From placemaking to playmaking
How Espacio Lúdico is gamifying public space
Trained as an architect in Chile, with a Masters in Urban Planning from the University of Melbourne, and now a Professor in Architecture in Santiago, Carolina Carrasco is about as qualified as it gets when it comes to urban design.
She is, however, much more than just an urban planner; having co-founded Espacio Lúdico (‘Playful Space’) with her partner, José Miguel Gómez, in 2016, she is also changing the face of placemaking – or, as her methodology describes it, ‘playmaking’.
We met for coffee in a little café next door to the School of Architecture, where Carolina gave me a full introduction to her work in gamified placemaking.
Good morning, Carolina! Perhaps we should start by talking about where it all began for Espacio Lúdico?
Really it all started in 2012. Both me and my partner, José, are architects, and in 2012 we had our daughter. Having a child means you start to live differently; through a child’s eyes, everything is a game – everything is about play.
José and I started to become fascinated with this. José is a very playful person anyway, and we noticed that when you play, you can make new rules, interact with new people, and open up new possibilities. Games provided us with a new way to look at and interact with public spaces.
There were a few years before we really started to develop this idea – having children keeps you busy! But in 2016 we eventually founded Espacio Lúdico. It’s an NGO, a not-for-profit, and we had the simple goal of changing our cities through play.
It must have been hard getting the organisation up and running – where did you start?
We started in quite a small-scale, experimental way. One of our very first projects was at the junction between Providencia and Ricardo Lyon. It’s a busy junction, and we wanted to do something to make it more pedestrian-friendly.
It was quite simple, we started with just some masking tape, and started marking out spaces for human Pacman, and for roller-skating. We couldn’t believe the difference it made. All of a sudden, people would stop there and spend time in the space, interacting with each other and playing. For our own kids, it created a lasting memory – they still talk about it!
The experiment gave us confidence in our idea for Espacio Lúdico. It clearly had potential.
How have the methodology and projects developed since then?
Our approach has become a lot more sophisticated since we started in 2016. Today we view the work of Espacio Lúdico through two lenses: the first is simply our goal to encourage more play and interaction in public spaces, and the second is to use play as a way to get community members involved in placemaking.
In Spanish, there’s no direct translation for the word, ‘placemaking’, but in Latin America we use the word differently to other parts of the world. To me, placemaking requires community involvement and participation – a place can only be made once you invite people in.
So with Espacio Lúdico, we use play as a way to engage members of the community. In workshops, games help us to explore the participants’ needs and ideas, and they give us the opportunity to dream up new solutions together. Through play, we can create entirely new solutions that are just cookie-cutter ideas.
So Espacio Lúdico’s role is sort of as a facilitator of placemaking?
Yes, we are facilitators, but we are also implementers. Because we’re architects by training, we’re able to take the ideas from the community and turn them into tangible, buildable solutions. And because of the relationship we build with the community during the idea-creation, we can consult with them on the solutions we come up with. That relationship is very important throughout the process.
How do you know if a project has made a difference?
Often, the difference is very visible, but we also conduct surveys to measure usage and happiness in our spaces.
As an example, a short while ago we were working on a space in an underpass in the city. Before we started working, the space was very dirty and had a number of social problems. We ran a survey of people in the space, asking how safe they felt in the underpass, and 95% said they felt it was a dangerous space. When we asked why, the majority said it was because there were too many people in the space.
During the course of the project, we regenerated the space, painting it and adding 26 double swings. The swings were a great way to get people playing together – meeting new people, and playing across generations – because they work best with two people.
Once the project was complete, we ran exactly the same questionnaire, asking people how safe they felt in the underpass. 95% said they felt it was a safe space, and when we asked why, the majority said again that it was because there were a lot of people using it.
So you see, it’s not necessarily about the number of people in the space, but what they’re doing in it. When they’re playing, they’re interacting, meeting and looking out for each other.
So what’s next for you, José and Espacio Lúdico?
We’re continuing to build the organisation, and we’ll see where it goes. We’re an NGO, so we don’t have an endless stream of revenue, which means we’re working in other opportunities as well. For example, I teach here at the School of Architecture twice a week, and I’m also involved with various conferences and forums.
It’s funny, last week I was invited to speak at the Curitiba Smart City Expo. Most of the talks were around introducing new technology to cities, and lots of it is really impressive. But for me, the most important aspect of a smart city is smart people.
When we’re creating places, we should always remember that we’re creating them at a ‘people scale’, thinking about what’s at eye level and what’s visible at walking speed. Essentially, we always need to be thinking about human experiences and interactions.
That;s what we’re really trying to achieve with Espacio Lúdico. Through play and the ‘playmaking’ methodology, we actively try to erase what we already know, and instead start to think about what people really need in public spaces. Games can prepare us for the possibility that the places we create aren’t always used in the way we expect – and that’s ok. If people are having picnics in the middle of roundabouts, or painting over monuments in central plazas (as they do in Santiago), we lean into that.
The one thing that makes a good place, is seeing people use and interact with it in a positive way. For us at Espacio Lúdico, ‘playmaking’ provides an effective and exciting opportunity to encourage these interactions.
