In their workshop on playable public sculpture, Dr. Sanné Mestrom and Nadia Odlum underscore the importance of understanding and designing for play affordances to encourage diverse and inclusive engagement.

In 2022, we launched the 'Ludic Folly' research pilot study, which established foundational concepts for observing and understanding play behaviors in urban spaces. Working with child development specialists and social scientists, we developed protocols that bridge art practice and urban design through child-led design methodologies (https://mestrom.org/ludic-folly/).

The research centered on a 5-meter fiberglass sculpture with moveable foam components, examining how design affordances invite different types of play. The Ludic Folly research project began with an investigation into children's interactions with playable public sculpture through a six-week ethics-approved study we conducted at Korowal Primary School in 2023. Using child-led research methods, including interactive co-design workshops, observation, and video documentation of over 2,400 play experiences by children aged 5-12 years old, the Ludic Folly study revealed how children engage in diverse play patterns and create their own meanings.

The practical outcomes emerged through observing how children interacted with both the large, fixed sculpture and the moveable foam pieces. The study documented children creating their own meanings and uses - climbing and jumping on the main sculpture while using the foam pieces to build new structures and tell stories. This demonstrated how children naturally discover and create multiple "affordances" beyond what adults might envision.

The findings demonstrate how thoughtfully designed playable public art can foster social negotiation and creative expression in public spaces while challenging traditional power dynamics that typically dominate these environments.

This challenges traditional power dynamics in several important ways. First, it shifts control from adult designers to child users by offering open-ended (i.e., unscripted) play opportunities, which stands in stark contrast to the traditional playground that essentially offers single-directional play opportunities: up > across > down.

Second, the research validates children's creative interpretations rather than imposing fixed "correct" ways to interact with public art, while also challenging the maxim that "we're allowed to look at art but not touch it."

The Ludic Folly research project, tested at five locations to date, gives children opportunities to negotiate and debate among themselves about how to use the playable sculptural space - something they're often denied in more controlled environments due to a pervasive risk-averse culture associated with children's playgrounds throughout Australia.

Most importantly, by documenting these interactions through child-led research methods, the project elevates children's perspectives in the design process itself, demonstrating how public spaces can be created with, rather than just for, young users.

The research thus bridges theory and practice by showing how theoretical concepts about environmental affordances can inform the design of public spaces that actively redistribute power and agency to their users. Most significantly, the affordance principles gleaned from this study can be applied by urban designers everywhere, making the principles of playable sculpture accessible to everyone designing for child-friendly cities.

The workshop draws on ‘Ludic Folly’, a playable sculpture case-study consisting of a very large artwork, created by Mestrom, consisting of a 5m fibreglass female reclining semi-abstract figure that can be climbed on, and multiple foam ‘loose parts’ that can be played with and rearranged.

These sculptural elements form the premise of six-week research project undertaken at Korowal Primary School in 2023, whereby Mestrom and Odlum used child-led research and co-design methods.

The project aimed to study children’s play patterns, and better-understand how the design affordances of the sculpture invited different types of play. Over six weeks at Korowal Primary School, they observed the children interacting with the sculpture and documented their play through video and conversations with teachers and students. Mestrom and Odlum then conducted co-design workshops where children drew and described how they played with the sculpture and suggested additions or changes.

The project revealed how children engaged in various forms of play, such as climbing, jumping, stacking, and creating their own structures, as well as attributing different meanings, names and stories to the sculpture’s components throughout their play. In the symposium’s workshop they use the outcomes of Ludic Folly to demonstrate how playable public art can challenge power dynamics and foster social negotiation in public spaces.

Underpinning the Ludic Folly case study was an exploration of the concept of ‘affordances’ in playable sculpture. Coined by American psychologist James J. Gibson (1979), this term refers to the possibilities for action that an environment provides, and the different ways these are perceived by individuals and groups. Designing for multiple and ‘hidden’ affordances encourages self-expression and diverse uses.

The project also furthers the concept of ‘loose parts play’, developed by architect Simon Nicholson (1971), which promotes the value of providing children with manipulable elements to enhance their opportunities for creative play. As Mestrom asserts, “Loose spaces designed with multiple affordances encourage people to express themselves through various senses,” highlighting the significance of ‘loose parts’ and the ability to manipulate elements in fostering creative play. Odlum adds, “When children use these elements, the loose parts, they can design their own sculptures by assembling shapes in an infinite number of configurations,” emphasising how “the ability to reshape the environment massively increases the affordances to play.”

Mestrom and Odlum stress the need for durable, tactile materials and thoughtful design to create public art that can withstand heavy use and invite play. Mestrom notes, “The affordances are really obvious for the user, but it also has hidden affordances... For me, that affords a hell of a lot of use.” She adds, “In fact, as many hidden affordances as possible would be ideal, you know. But there’s got to be some cues that call the player into it.” This balance between clear play affordances and elements of discovery is crucial for maintaining engagement over time.

The workshop also highlights the value of interdisciplinary collaboration between artists, designers, engineers, and play specialists in creating successful playable public art.

Mestrom, who identifies both as an artist and an academic, emphasises the importance of responding to observations and gut instincts in the design process. Meanwhile, Odlum, as a feminist researcher, underscores the significance of examining how girls inhabit play spaces and who gets to have a go, noting, “that kind of data is really important.”

Ultimately, Mestrom and Odlum’s insights illuminate the transformative potential of playable public art in fostering social interaction, creativity, and self-regulation. As Mestrom observes, “We don’t give kids the opportunity to negotiate, to debate. We sort of rob them of those opportunities.”

By designing spaces that encourage these skills, playable public art can contribute to more inclusive, engaging, and empowering public realms.