Apologia for an Architecture of Play

Abstract

The richness and ambiguity of architectural design are inherent in the approximation and freedom of individual design attitudes, where the essence of the imaginative realm is depicted by a creative design process that proceeds through a variety of levels but evolves from a playful intention. While the notion of play resembles the driving force in the infinite search for the appropriate answer to a certain problem, the different design solutions for a specific problem do showcase the manifold of possibilities an architectural design can offer. The notion of play is integrated into the transformation of architectural design in terms of the abstraction of geometrical possibilities while imbuing architectural work with specific spatial qualities. Particularly in the contemporary work of Pezo von Ellrichshausen who devoted their oeuvre to the continuous search for infinite spatial structures. This apologia for an architecture of play demonstrates the experimentation of the notion of play in the design process and an open field of spatial possibilities that emerge in architecture by integrating it in the exploration for a redefinition. While in the consideration of the complex realm of architecture as a form of knowledge, the possibilities of play as an explorative design method could further extend its potentiality.

Keywords

• gioco
• assemblaggio
• logica compositiva