From infrastructure to playground: the playable soul of Copenhagen (original) (raw)

Play moves between different realms and definitions, reality and unreality, space and time, collective and individual, freedom and rules. (1) In 1997 the ambiguous character of play becomes the title of one of the most comprehensive studies on the topic, The Ambiguity of Play by Sutton-Smith. The author himself has manifested the difficulties to define what play is, though every reader has a clear feeling of what playing provokes. One trait that the book highlights the character between freedom expressed by Johan Huizinga “Here, then, we have the first main characteristic of play: that it is free, is in fact freedom. A second characteristic is closely con­nected with this, namely, that play is not "ordinary" or "real" life. It is rather a stepping out of "real" life into a temporary sphere of activity with a disposition all of its own” (2) and restriction expressed by Roger Caillois “The game must be taken back within the agreed boundaries. The same is true for time: the game starts and ends at given signal”. (3) Play is defined both spatially and temporally: “Play is distinct from "ordinary" life both as to locality and duration” (4), and when translated into our cityscape it can be a powerful tool able to transform anonymous urban setting into "extraordinary" space where the activities, movements and uses are carried on by the player because he/she likes doing it, freely accepting the play limitation. Playgrounds spread in our urban environment are the setting for playful activities such as fun, relaxation, exercise or escape becoming a qualitative manifestation for a healthy human experience. Inside the playground border, the rules of the game hold, but at the same time the free nature of play when is affected by the non-optimal urban/social conditions of the context can easily assume a fragile status and disappear. Therefore, both the protection and the promotion of playful spaces need careful attention, especially in the contemporary urban settlement. Hence, the aim of this paper is firstly to add nuance to the understanding of urban design linked to playful activities in order to improve mental health conditions especially in children and teenagers. Secondly, it aims to give practical examples through a case study analysis of how urban planning and urban design can affect positively play creating new opportunities.