MIT M.Arch Graduates Alexandre Beaudouin-Mackay & Sarah Wagner Inject "A New Way of Play" Into Architectural Pedagogy

2020-07-20T12:34:00-04:00

Graduates Alexandre Beaudouin-Mackay & Sarah Wagner take architectural pedagogy in a direction driven by play. According to the duo, "by understanding play as a powerful methodology, architects can engage others in creative processes with the ambition of implementing new, meaningful, and imaginative design strategies. Play is not aimless but productive..."

In their thesis project A New Way of Play: The Forms and Functions of Participatory Design and Critical Pedagogies, Beaudouin-Mackay and Wagner they push for architecture to reimagine play. As recent graduates from MIT's School of Architecture, they created a set of play spaces for children in order to understand how different forms of architectural authorship could be challenged.

Archinect's Spotlight on 2020 Thesis Projects: 2020 has been an extraordinarily challenging year for architecture graduates. Students were displaced as schools shut down, academic communities had to adapt to a new virtual format, end-of-year celebration...

Playtime! 7 bold and whimsical playgrounds from around the world

2016-08-12T12:44:00-04:00

The act of play rests heavily on the ability to indulge in the imagination. While a certain degree of functionality is required for elements like swings, slides, and climbing walls, the key to any great playground design is that it be inspiring: and oddly enough, it doesn’t always have to be strictly for children. Game-playing takes multiple forms, from the stream of consciousness rules of a child's adventure to the psychologically penetrating/illuminating construct of an artist. These examples of architectural spaces for play from around the world openly embrace the esoteric and playful.

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MIT M.Arch Graduates Alexandre Beaudouin-Mackay & Sarah Wagner Inject "A New Way of Play" Into Architectural Pedagogy

Playtime! 7 bold and whimsical playgrounds from around the world