Pla(y)ce: Reimagining Prescott Park by aherna14

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Reimagining Prescott Park Abigail Ahern

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Dedicated to My parents who have always given me endless support in all my endeavors and the tools I need to succeed. & Meghan, Aidan and Steven who helped me assemble my final special topics model and believe they deserve a portion of this degree because of it. Thank you!

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Acknowledgments Thank you to Dana Haley and Scott Chatfield for the courses you taught in highschool that led me to architecture. To Anne-Catrin Schultz, Robert Cowherd, and Anthony Piermarini for helping to guide my ideas throughout this thesis year. My studio family, for the sleepless nights and endless laughs. We will meet at Flann's again soon enough! & Lastly, to all my peers, past professors, mentors and colleagues that remind me everyday why I chose this path.

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Reimagining Prescott Park Abigail Ahern

The identity of a place can be experienced by integrating play to create both a resilient coastline and an inclusive public space with a spectrum of playful experiences. Portsmouthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Prescott Park lacks resiliency to rising sea levels and inclusive public space for year-round use. Using play as a method to explore identity, the historic coastline becomes a functional playscape that prompts imagination and physical interaction. The functional playscape aims to facilitate a range of experiences while at the same time preserving the historic buildings along the rapidly changing coastline. Key Words:

Identity, Play, Waterfront

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07 | Introduction

13 | Reimagining Play

37 | Design Testing

71 | Pla(y)ce: Prescott Park

101 | Future Considerations

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Chapter 1 Introduction

Thesis Statement Argument Setting the Context Framing the Narrative Audience Structuring the Investigation Closing

Introduction

Thesis Statement

The identity of a place can be experienced by integrating play to create both a resilient coastline and an inclusive public space with a spectrum of playful experiences.

Argument

Portsmouthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Prescott Park lacks resiliency to rising sea levels and inclusive public space for year-round use. Using play as a method to explore identity, the historic coastline becomes a functional playscape that prompts imagination and physical interaction. The functional playscape aims to facilitate a range of experiences while at the same time preserving the historic buildings along the rapidly changing coastline.

Setting the Context

Prescott Park is a ten-acre waterfront park located in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The park is directly across from the Strawberry Banke Museum, an outdoor history museum featuring more than 37 restored buildings built between the 17th and 19th centuries, many of which are on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1974 an outdoor theatrical summer production was brought to Prescott Park and the Prescott Park Arts Festival was born. Every year since, there has been annual summer festivals supporting the performing and visual arts. The parks land was donated to the city of Portsmouth by two sisters, Josie and Sarah Prescott, in 1940. The sisters used an inheritance to purchase and clear properties along the Piscataqua River. The sister's goal was to create a public waterfront park that was free and

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accessible to all, replacing what was once a rundown industrial area. The first parcels of land were deeded to the city in 1940, and the Prescott sisters' trust was established in 1949. The Prescott Trust continues to financially maintain and preserve Prescott Park. However, in recent years the proceeds from the Trust have been unable to keep up with operating costs. Public parks endure lots of concentrated use and these impacts are compounded at Prescott Park because of the density of population, exposure to New England’s weather fluctuations, and the proximity to the tidal marine conditions of the Piscataqua River. As elements wear and usage increases it is becoming harder to maintain and operate a safe and accessible waterfront park. As one of the few points of access to the Piscataqua River, Prescott Park is not meeting its potential for year-round use. During the offseason, it is a disappointing experience upon arrival as it consists of barren lawns and desolate piers. Along with a lack of year-round activity the coastline also lacks resiliency strategies. By 2100 Portsmouth’s coastline will be completely submerged along with its precious historic buildings if no action is taken. Play can be used as a method to explore Portsmouth’s identity while protecting its historic heritage from sea level rise. By incorporating playscapes that act as resiliency strategies, the surrounding historical architecture can be preserved while the playscape adapts to the sea level rise. This functional playscape can form new social networks while engaging the identity of Portsmouth’s maritime and historic district.

Introduction

Framing the Narrative

Having grown up and spent the majority of my life in Barrington, New Hampshire, a twenty minute drive from Portsmouth, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been exposed to the lack of public space in the area. Growing up as an active child and athlete the absence of an active gathering space in the community did not go unnoticed. Given the rural nature of my hometown, Portsmouth acts as the urban community hub of the Seacoast region and, as such, I spent a considerable amount of time in the area growing up. My father is a restoration mason in the area, specializing in historical preservation. Having seen the variety of projects he has worked on, specifically in the historical core of Portsmouth, I gained a greater appreciation for the historical significance of the city and its buildings ranging from Strawberry Banke to Bow Street and around Prescott Park. This thesis consolidates my interests and offers insights on how to continue to improve what I consider the gem of my home area. A successful public space can not only foster civic pride but create sense of community.

Audience

To Architects: This thesis answers the questions of how and why cities should improve their public spaces, specifically cities with useable but underutilized waterfronts. It provides an exploration of how public space can become functional in more ways than one. Public space has the opportunity to create meaningful invitations for play, and prompt imagination and physical interaction for all ages. On waterfronts, public space can act as a resiliency strategy for sea level rise while maximizing waterfront interaction. Public space can also enhance the identity of a city and create a sense of

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community. Recent tradition has relegated that public spaces are non-essential and is constantly being developed. It is important that we question the lack of engagement in public spaces in cities and their importance in our lives. How can public space be realized as essential in the public realm? To Community Members: This thesis is a reminder that public space can be more than just outdoor space with a "standardized playground". Public space can shape residentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; personal identities, foster a degree of community rootedness in a place, provide us with a measure of livability for that place, and create a sense of well-being within us. The solution explored in this thesis can bring excitement back into the public realm and act as a catalyst for community members to take charge and demand more out of their public space.

Structuring the Investigation

Chapter 2: Re-imagining Play, is devoted to the existing research that supports my thesis and has driven the bulk of my design testing. This writing gives insight into the approach of my design thinking and conceptual ideas. It begins by answering the following burning questions; â&#x20AC;&#x153;How do we create playful place-making in a time of globalization? What are the benefits of play in the public realm? and What are the different approaches to interactive play?â&#x20AC;? These questions are followed by the historical background of the psychology of play and dramatic transformation of play settings over the years starting in postWorld War II. A series of playable public spaces are detailed as strategies useful to anyone interested in how cities can improve their public spaces through play. These projects satisfy three essential criteria: they enhance the well-being of community life; represent the latest perspectives on play; and create a sense of place in an

Introduction

otherwise placeless community. These examples meet radical standards of successful design where the success is measured by the improvement of human existence in a community. Chapter 3: Design as Research, introduces a series of site analysis and design tests that demonstrate the ideas and questions explored in Chapter 2: Re-imagining Play. Site analysis is the preliminary phase of the design process dedicated to the study of Prescott Park's specific site including its historical, geographical, infrastructural, and environmental context. The design tests act as a tool for the reader to understand my design process and how design can respond to the goals of this thesis. This iterative design process made it possible to tackle problems related to my thesis topic and expand upon them using diverse methods of exploration. Chapter 4: Outcomes, is the culmination of eight months of research and design testing. This chapter succinctly reviews the main goals of my thesis as well as important analysis and methods used in the preliminary phases that drove my thesis design. It demonstrates how my final design addresses the thesis statement directly using drawings, renders, and animations. Chapter 5: Future Considerations, is a critical evaluation of the thesis process and development based on my inquiry, exploration, results, and final review critique. This chapter reflects on the feedback I've been given throughout my design work from professors, peers, and many outside critics.

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Closing

As one of New Hampshire's seacoast "gems," Prescott Park has remained cherished by its community for years. Despite this, the park is not meeting its full potential. Expanding on the love and deep history of the site, Prescott Park can be a tool to produce a positive change and increase the opportunities for the community as a whole.

Introduction

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02 Chapter 2

Reimagining Play

Reimagining Play Play in the Public Realm Affects of Play on the Body and Mind History of Play and Playgrounds Spectrum of Playable Places

Reimagining Play

Play is a facilitator that can form social networks in the daily and overlooked surroundings. By using play as a placemaking mechanism the public realm can become a playful appealing environment to its citizens. Play can be a way of social interaction that brings people together and gives them permission to think about their surroundings differently. The purpose of play and spaces that enable play, or play type of events, are to provide a successful sociable moment with the further goal of establishing a positive ever-lasting memory. This correlates to the public space setting by promoting civic pride, intellectual stimulation, and creativity in a community by developing memorable events and positive feelings through play. In simple terms, place is the space in which events occur. Place is about creating design that enables people, that makes them feel empowered, important, and excited to be in the community they inhabit in their daily lives. Places are fundamental aspects of our existence; they are the sources of identity and security of individuals and groups. Interacting with their surroundings, people develop a deeper relationship with others and the built environment. Playable interventions in public space should offer various scenarios and forms of interaction for those occupying the city across all ages, classes, and abilities. Play is beneficial for people of all ages, both children and adults. Play is crucial in children’s physical, mental, and emotional growth and development.1 Rather than for brain development like children, adults use play to help with immediate situations such as reducing stress, testing relationships or calming tense social circumstances.2 Conclusively, play is used by adults to maintain their overall well-being. Since the Industrial Revolution play has not been seen as a requirement in our everyday lives. However, play deficiency has resulted in numerous mental and physical health concerns.3 Children need safe

unsupervised free play and adults need open unstructured play time in order to live positive engaged lives. Public play spaces provide an ideal place for socialization of people from different race, economic status and backgrounds. Providing these spaces gives people a chance to congregate and communicate, which are important methods in helping social interaction. The idea that children can turn anything into a playground has resulted in the reduced number of playgrounds and public spaces dedicated to play over the years. The evolution of play and playground design has changed dramatically over the course of history. However, regulation to incorporate play into the public realm of every city has not taken place. Playgrounds no longer reflect how children learn nor function as a hub of community activity. How can play be encouraged in public space? What are the different approaches to interactive play? How can the benefits and disadvantages of play be determined? There isn’t a need for more playgrounds but for more opportunities for play in public space for all ages. Playful space does not need to be restricted to playgrounds. Industrial play equipment has left kids uninterested and bored, resulting in foul play towards each other or misuse of play equipment.4 The public realm needs interventions that prompt play and foster imagination. Interventions that do this can range from organized city events (Come Out and Play) to virtual placemaking using technology (Pokémon Go). They can be either permanent in the public realm (City Thread) or fleeting depending on participation (Urbanimals). However, the goal of all these playful public spaces is to plant seeds in communities that give its members the opportunity to engage with the design and ultimately discover a sense of place.

Play in the Public Realm

All places have character whether it is environmental, historical, symbolic, urban,

1. “Science of Play,” Voice of Play, accessed December 1, 2019, https://voiceofplay.org/science-of-play/. 2. Lawrence Robinson, “The Benefits of Play for Adults,” last modified June 2019, https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/benefits-of-play-foradults.htm. 3. Stuart L. Brown, “Consequences of Play Deprivation,” Scholarpedia 9, no. 5 (2014): 1-30449.

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perceptive, anthropological, sociological, or psychological.5 As designers, it is our job to consider the identity of a place and use it to create an empowering space for the community that occupies it. Public space is where communities gather and interact. The word community is often used as a synonym for place. Creating a sense of place is important because it develops a strong sense of community. This sense of community and place becomes stronger and more evident with an increase of participation. The sense of place is the concept that encapsulates the ways people form connections with the environments they occupy. It shapes the residents’ personal identities, fosters a degree of community rootedness in a place, provides us with a measure of livability for that place, and creates a sense of well-being within us.6 Placemaking inspires people to collectively reimagine and reinvent public spaces, which strengthens the connection between people and the places they share. Placemaking refers to a collaborative process by which we can shape our public realm in order to maximize shared value.7 More than just promoting better urban design, placemaking facilitates creative patterns of use, paying attention to the physical, cultural, and social identities that define a place and support its ongoing evolution.8 Placemaking advocates that context matters. When locations are unique and people are unique, the cities for those people and public spaces should be designed to reflect and accommodate that distinctive uniqueness. It isn’t necessary to measure places in different geographies and socio-political environments to a single standard. The people using those spaces decide its usage and success regardless of what or who it was designed for and cities do not have to conform to every global trend in order to be considered modern. A lot of who we are is where we are from. This matters less to us now that we live in a world where we are connected to people from all over,

Figure 1: Children playing their way through Griesheim, Germany. Street view of playful walkways, by Bespielbare Stadt, 2017.

regardless of the spaces we occupy. Identity of a place is constructed through the cultures existing within them. Cultures are being reinvented faster than ever due to extensive global influence. Without knowing what the distinctive and essential features of a place are, it is not possible to create and preserve the places that are significant in our lives. It is important as designers that the means of experiencing, creating, and maintaining significant places are not lost. However, designs must be progressive in order to avoid creating museum cities that have no sense of place. Play events, whether it be a sporting events, scavenger hunts, or medieval games, create memories for those who attended or participated.9 The same theme can be applied to individuals playing in a public space who develop memories from the principles of play. This illustrates that play allows for an alternate reality.

4. Susan Soloman, American Playgrounds: Revitalizing Community Space (University Press of New England, 2005), 150. 5. Marichela Sepe, Planning and Place in the City: Mapping Place Identity (New York: Routledge, 2013), 4. 6. Ellery J Peter and Jane Ellery, “Strengthening Community Sense of Place through Placemaking,” Urban Planning 4, no. 2 (2019): 237-248. 7. Edward Relph, Place and Placelessness (Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 2016), 9.

Reimagining Play

It’s these memories that allow users of a space or attendees of a game to continue coming back to the place year after year.10 In an act of public space reclamation, the children of Griesheim, Germany convinced their mayor to make their town a playable one (Figure 1). Children mapped their school routes with chalk, as well as routes to other vital spaces. Along the routes to and from school 101 play objects were installed so the children could play their way through their town. This also resulted in temporary play streets. The action of allowing and encouraging community participation of all ages in the creation of spaces they occupy creates a perception of community wellbeing.11 The invitation to people to express themselves, play and exercise in public space begins to create lively, healthy cities. People gather where things are happening and seek the presence of others. Children’s play has always been an integral part of city life. Children used to play where grown-ups worked and conducted activity. Now, modernism planning requires dedicated playgrounds and western societies subject themselves to specified locations for play.12 Adults often overlook the necessity of playful spaces since we are conditioned into not being playful to perform adulthood. Since play has always helped break the ice with children regardless of where they come from, it isn’t much of a stretch to expect the same effect on adults. Playfulness is something society has associated with childhood and immaturity.3 In a society that has come to consider leisure as something to be earned rather than a right, cities demonstrably lack places that are playful and appealing to citizens across ages, classes, and abilities. Erving Goffman analyzed playing as an encounter which focused on collaborative teamwork and how people become a team to strategize and focus on winning an objective goal.13 These create positive memories that can last for a varied amount of time depending on the activity. It is important

to consider this when developing activities to promote play in a public space.

Affects of Play on the Body and Mind

Unsupervised playground play and free-for-all street play are starting to become non-existent as kids spend more time on electronics than playing outdoors. Pick up games are disappearing along with the groups of neighborhood kids that began them. There is a marked decrease in recreational and recess time during a school day countrywide.3 Childhood depression is more prevalent. The obesity epidemic is seen in all developed countries.14 Outdoor playtime has decreased by 71% in one generation in both the US and UK.3 Kids are deeply involved in a technology dominated world which has replaced kid-organized varieties of play. Adult supervision during out of school hours is the norm for kids now. The policy for college admissions require advanced academic course and extracurricular activities which lead kids to create overfull resumes as entry requirements. Parents work longer hours with diminishing vacation times.12 Economic stress and occupational insecurity have become standard. The level of work satisfaction for many adults in the work force has diminished. Play between different generations and “family” games are slowly disappearing. Poverty and inaccessible play opportunities associated with high crime rates and gang membership have become widespread in inner cities.6 This list, although a mixture of various evidence, identifies mainstream cultural proof that the time provided for safe unsupervised free play for children, and open unstructured playtime for adults, has diminished radically in the past 50 years. How can play be re-entered into our lives and culture? Tradition has relegated that play is non-essential and is considered a luxury. With this evidence, the mindset that play is not indispensable in our everyday life is no longer

8. “What Is Placemaking?,” Project for Public Spaces, last modified 2007, https://www.pps.org/article/what-is-placemaking. 9. Peter Gray, “Definitions of Play,” Scholarpedia 8, no. 7 (2013): 1-30578. 10. Thomas Henricks, Play Reconsidered: Sociological Perspectives on Human Expression (Urbana-Champagne: University of Illinois Press, 2006), 19. 11. “Griesheim- The First Playable Town in Germany,” Playground @ Landscape, accessed December 1, 2019, https://playground-landscape.com/en/ article/view/392-griesheim-the-first-playable-town-in-germany.html.

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viable. The Industrial Revolution changed the outlook of society on work-play balance. Play took a backseat to work. Today, in what is now a much more structured society, we still place a large emphasis on work and what were supposed to be the intrinsic benefits to work.15 This caused participation in communities to drop. Contemporary Americans work longer hours, which leads to lost time for leisure and recreation. Americans are inclined to choose additional income over leisure. Today work is primarily stationary, offices are artificially ventilated, and transit options usually involve sitting in a car or train. This is a historical shift from when work was physically demanding and conducted outside and transportation was by foot or bicycle.12 Shrinking households increase the need for social contact outside of the home. Many people today live privatized lives with private cars, private households, private electronics, and private offices. Due to this change in culture there is a growing interest in strengthening contact to civil society. These extended hours of work have resulted in not only lack of participation in community life but in many health concerns. Longer workdays result in social marginalization due to the disruption of family and social activities. Social marginalization and isolation generated from long workdays increase anxiety and depression.⁶ Mental disorders are caused by a lack of recreation and social life. Play theorist Brian Sutton Smith claims that “the opposite of play is not work. It’s depression,” which in recent times, has been labelled as the disease of modernity. Inactivity and physical/mental health issues affect both children and adults, but play can be used as a prevention method. If you ask kids why they run, jump, swing, or climb, they answer “Because it’s fun.” Research shows that playing outdoors is more than just fun, it is a necessity in keeping kids physically fit and healthy. When kids play, they are learning

“The opposite of play is not work. It’s depression.” -Brian Sutton Smith

reflexes, movement control, developing fine and gross motor skills and increasing flexibility and balancing skills.1 On top of that, when kids are involved in physical activity, they’re building stronger muscles and improving bone density, heart and lung function, as well as preventing obesity, diabetes, and high cholesterol.16 Regardless of their age group and ability, all children can physically benefit from outdoor play. Today, kids have access to numerous forms of technology that can decrease the amount of time spent engaging in physical play. With physical play clear benefits can be seen. However, there are internal benefits that play provides. Free play has an important role in a child’s emotional growth.17 Research has pointed to three areas where play can help children develop emotionally: building self-confidence and esteem; experimenting with various emotions; and releasing emotions.1 Playground equipment like climbers and hanging apparatuses present kids with physical challenges, and free play encourages them to take risks. When kids take risks and overcome challenges, they develop a sense of accomplishment that builds their self-esteem.18 Play also encourages children to develop skills that build self-confidence, such as conflict resolution and imaginative play. Using pretend play, kids utilize their imagination to break out of limitations and reality. Research shows that children use play to express their emotions and deal with their fears and scary experiences.16 Play equipment such as tunnels or enclosed spaces promote experimentation;

12. Jan Gehl, Cities for People (New York: Island Press, 2010), 150. 13. Henricks, Play Reconsidered, 153. 14. David Mah and Leire Asensio Villoria, Lifestyled: Health and Places (Berlin: Jovis, 2016), 45. 15. Henricks, Play Reconsidered, 22.

Reimagining Play

kids use the imagination and pretend play to experience different feelings and outcomes. Kids love playgrounds for many reasons. One of the primary reasons that they look forward to play is because it gives them a chance to visit with friends outside of school, meet new peers, and play fun and imaginary games that they might not be able to play at home. The playground is a complex social network where kids learn valuable everyday life lessons about interacting with others, social norms and independence, while gaining important relationship-building skills.1 Some may think that playing alone encourages children to shy away from others. However, solitary play helps kids socially; it develops a strong sense of independence, promotes creativity and imagination, and alleviates boredom when they devise their own entertainment. When playing alone, children can also learn social cues by observing other childrens’ interactions without being part of them. As important as solitary play is, group play is where kids learn social roles and cultural rules. Group play is not just kids playing with one another; it is teaching them about reallife relationships. When children develop and test relationships, they learn self-control and negotiation skills. They also learn survival skills, independence and acceptable group activities to build on as they grow up.16 The great thing about playgrounds and play equipment is that they allow children to freely interact with one another. Group interaction and social development take place on the playground: platforms and decks provide children with places to congregate; bridges and ramps provide kids with opportunities to play games; swings and slides encourage kids to learn to take turns; and tunnels and roof-covered areas encourage group games and pretend play. When writing about the history of playgrounds in the US, Lunnea M. Anderson explained that playgrounds provide an ideal place for socialization and forming

“Play is something done for its own sake, it’s voluntary, it’s pleasurable, it offers a sense of engagement, it takes you out of time. And the act itself is more important than the outcome.” -Dr. Stuart Brown

“neighborliness” when children of different race and economic status meet at playgrounds and play together.1 Providing these spaces gives kids a chance to congregate and communicate, which are important keys in helping social interaction. While kids are having fun, little do they know that the lessons they learn while playing will provide a foundation to grow into socially adjusted, welladapted adults. While play is critical for children’s development, it is also beneficial for people of all ages. Childhood play is essential for brain development, but playtime doesn’t end when we grow up.2 The question is, why? Dr, Stuart Brown says, “Play is something done for its own sake, it’s voluntary, it’s pleasurable, it offers a sense of engagement, it takes you out of time. And the act itself is more important than the outcome.” Children have a lot to learn through play, including empathy, how to communicate with others, and how to roll with the punches. Those kinds of resilient learning processes are different than what occurs in adult play. At this stage of the life, rather than functioning to promote the future development of the brain, it functions to serve immediate purposes, such as calming social discord, or reducing stress and testing out relationships

16. Sergio Pellis and Vivien Pellis, “Rough and Tumble Play,” Scholarpedia 8, no. 3 (2013): 1-30363. 17. Henricks, Play Reconsidered, 15. 18. Soloman, American Playgrounds, 176. 19. Gehl, Cities for People, 161.

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within a social group or with strangers.16 A big reason that grown-ups play is that it helps maintain their social well-being. It’s not just board games that help adults do this, but soccer leagues, paintball, and team building exercises in the office. Playing is how adults connect. Adults also use play as a method to stay sharp. Playing games or doing puzzles helps maintain memory and thinking skills. When there’s a major play deprivation in an otherwise competent adult you begin to see the perseverance and joy in work lessen and life seems much more laborious.3 In our modern lives, many people focus so heavily on work and family commitments that there never seems to be time for pure fun. Play can add joy to life, relieve stress, supercharge learning, and connect you to others and the world we live in, not only as children but also as adults. This emphasizes the need for creating environments which balance recreation and social interaction. The activity of recreation provides many physical and mental benefits. We need to try to provide better conditions for children, improved opportunities for senior citizens, and a stronger invitation to exercise in connection with daily activities around town. There should be a focus on improving the ordinary city space and integrating into everyday space opportunities for children, older people, and exercise enthusiasts.19

History of Play and Playgrounds

“Playgrounds” refer to the outdoor spaces with natural and/or built materials and equipment selected, created, or designed for children’s play. German influence was instrumental in the emphasis on the development of playgrounds in the United States. This emphasis continued in schools and parks into the 21st century.20 The history of playgrounds for younger children and emphasis on child development was also rooted in Germany, notably with Frederick Froebel. American psychologists and educators, including John Dewey and G. Stanley Hall, later joined Froebel in positioning playgrounds for young

Figure 2: Children playing on one of the first outdoor gymnasiums. Taken from ground looking up to play equipment, Dallas 1900.

children as fundamental for child development and essential in the educative process.21 During the first decade of the 19th century, the outdoor play and exercise training in Schenpfenthal, Germany was introduced.22 The early play movement in Germany was influenced by physical fitness, health and nationalistic motives, fitness of men for military service, women to be mothers of a vigorous race, and reduction of childhood disease.20 In the United States, the late 19th century emphasis was on social factors, especially protecting children from temptations and socially and physically dangerous streets of large cities.23 The first outdoor gymnasium in America was created in 1821 (Figure 2).24 It was located on the yard behind the Latin school on Tremont Street in Boston, Massachusetts. The playground was equipped with parallel bars, a vaulting horse,

20. Joe Frost, “Evolution of American Playgrounds,” Scholarpedia 7, no. 12 (2012): 1-30423. 21. Soloman, American Playgrounds, 18. 22. Erica Rife, “The History of Play: Part 2,” last modified June 8, 2017, https://designmuseumfoundation.org/blog/2017/06/08/history-play-part-2/. 23. Kaitlin O’Shea, “How We Came to Play: The History of Playgrounds,” last modified August 15, 2013, https://savingplaces.org/stories/how-we-cameto-play-the-history-of-playgrounds/#.Xe62X-hKhPY.

Reimagining Play

Figure 3: Boston Sand Garden- the first organized and supervised playground in America.

Figure 4: Children at the historic Hull-House playground. Taken from ground level looking up to play equipment, Special Collections, UIC Daley Library.

and other indoor type gymnastic equipment. The Tremont Street site was only about 30’ by 30’ in size, allowing limited space for children and equipment.20 Space limitations remain a problem today in most schools. At this time both indoor and outdoor play spaces were called “playgrounds” and breaks for play were called “recess” or in the UK, “playtime”.3 The outdoor gymnasia of the early 1800’s succumbed to lack of interest by 1830, and only a handful existed during the next half century. The downfall of these early efforts stalled subsequent efforts until about 1887, when Berlin’s sand gardens for young children were adopted.20 During the industrial revolution, immigration from many countries resulted in massive areas of poverty in America’s largest cities. In these slums thousands of homeless children lived and fought to survive in the streets. A New York City law prohibited playing in the streets and thousands of children were brought to court.20 This predicament

became so destructive that social reformers, charitable groups, and other organizations formed a movement for play and playgrounds. This was known as the Child Saving Movement.25 During the 1880’s Von Schenckndorff, a German political leader placed piles of sand in the public parks of Berlin where children played. Dr. Marie Zakerzewska who visited Berlin, recommended these playgrounds to the chairman of Massachusetts Emergency and Hygiene Association in 1886, and piles of sand were placed in the play yards of the Children’s Mission on Boston’s Parmenter Street (Figure 3).26 These were the first organized and supervised playgrounds in America and started the first play movement for young children. By 1891, playgrounds were increasingly diversified and growing at a rapid rate.20 Boston initiatives to provide playgrounds for boys and

24. Soloman, American Playgrounds, 30. 25. Anthony Platt, “The Rise of the Child Saving Movement,” accessed November 30, 2019, https://www.cyc-net.org/profession/readarounds/ra-platt. html 26. Soloman, American Playgrounds, 46.

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girls of all ages, collaboration of public and philanthropic agencies, and integration of sand gardens, outdoor gymnasia, built equipment, and organized sports attracted at least nine other cities to consult with Boston leaders about playground development. By the turn of the century the stage was set for planners, designers, builders, and manufacturers of playgrounds and equipment to enter the growing playground industry, and a “model playground” era emerged. The term “model playground” was first used in connection with Jane Adam’s (1809) famous Hull House playground in Chicago for both “big and little” children (Figure 4). Her playground was located on three-quarters of an acre, contained sand piles, swings, building blocks, a giant stride or may pole for younger children, benches, and handball and baseball courts reduced in size for older children.27 A policeman and an experienced student or teacher supervised the playground. The model playground rapidly spread from city to city and the concept of “playground” expanded. As equipment manufacturers entered the scene, the sand pile and exercise apparatus were complemented with new types of swinging, climbing, and sliding apparatus.20 Spaces for games such as leapfrog, follow the leader, and red rover were added as well as organized spaces for football and baseball. During the 1880’s playgrounds for young children grew in popularity and observers noted that, “Even big boys hung around and looked wistful,” at the creative activities and play spaces of young children.28 By 1917, playgrounds were appearing in small towns, and schools were setting aside periods of play for young children.20 In 1906 Henry Curtis and Luther Gulick led the founding of the Playground Association of America (PAA). At the time of the organization of PAA forty-one cities were operating playgrounds. In 1924 this number had expanded to 5,006 playgrounds, employing 15,871 workers. In 1914 the Russell Sage Foundation identified 50 high

Figure 5: Children playing on a wooden climbing structure at Bandley Hill Adventure Playground. Taken from ground level looking up to play equipment, Stevenage Museum/Donne Buck, June 6,

schools, colleges, or normal schools offering training courses for play leaders, and by 1916 the number of training programs had doubled.29 The early playground movement was split into two parts, one for schoolyard playgrounds, consisting mainly of seesaws, swings, slides, and sand bins and other built apparatus. The second type, municipal or park playgrounds, were usually developed and operated by Park Boards or special Recreation Commissions.20 These were usually by far the most expensive, occupying several acres with well-equipped field houses, containing park and playground facilities and sports fields manned by a physical director. The Great Depression and World Ward II slowed the development of the playground movement. Playground supervisors were lost, and parks, playgrounds and landscapes suffered from lack of maintenance and went into disrepair and many playgrounds were eliminated. During the

27. Soloman, American Playgrounds, 18. 28. Erica Rife, “The History of Play: Part 2,” last modified June 8, 2017, https://designmuseumfoundation.org/blog/2017/06/08/history-play-part-2/. 29. Kaitlin O’Shea, “How We Came to Play: The History of Playgrounds,” last modified August 15, 2013, https://savingplaces.org/stories/how-we-cameto-play-the-history-of-playgrounds/#.Xe62X-hKhPY.

Reimagining Play

wanted to build and worked together to create a place to explore their imaginations. This was the beginning of the simple concept of letting kids become self-directors of everything they produce. Comradery and uncontrolled creativity became their play experience.32 “For a playground to succeed, its ultimate users must be its builders. This does not mean that only the adults of a community must build and be responsible for that community’s playground; it also means that the children must be involved.”33 The life span for most American adventure playgrounds was short, due to concerns about junky appearance, expansion of safety regulations, fear of injury and liability, shortage of funding and play leaders, and lack of support from community leaders. Despite their strong reputation among developers, child users, and involved parents, few model examples remain while many disappeared.

Figure 6: Standardized playground consisting of manufactured equipment surrounded by hard surface. Kolb Elementary School, Dublin, CA. Courtesy of OneDublin.org.

war years, 1941- 1945, metal was diverted to the war effort and production of steel playground equipment virtually halted.30 Children in many schools could take periods from school to gather scrap metal from nearby farms or businesses and place it in piles at the edge of schoolyards for military trucks to pick up. To the child gatherers, this was play! But even as these war events were occurring, a simple but revolutionary playground fantasy - the “junk playground” - was brewing in Denmark.20 The concept of an Adventure Playground was established in the 1930s.5 When Copenhagen was under German occupation, architect C. Th. Sorenson developed a solution to play for a country at war. The playground consisted of enclosed areas where children were given useless scraps of metal, wood, or masonry as well as simple building tools (hammer, saw, nails, etc.) (Figure 5). The kids chose what they

To complement or compensate for typical municipal playgrounds with paved surfaces, fences, and traditional equipment the “novelty era” emerged.34 By the 1950s there was still a huge number of playgrounds in America that remained blacktopped and uninspiring with the same equipment that had been around for decades.35 However, influential playgrounds began to emerge in the 1960s. A connection between playgrounds and sculpture was formed. There was now the possibility of stimulating the child’s sense of space and form through playground designed as architectural sculpture. Childhood is a time for physical activity but also a time for developing the imagination and awareness of beauty.36 The motives for novelty playgrounds were to compensate, complement, or substitute for the paved surfaces and equipment (slides, swings, and jungle gyms) on municipal playgrounds. Manufacturers predicted that steel, action-oriented equipment would remain a priority, plastic would replace steel in some applications, play sculptures would become more popular, molded swings in the shape of animals would be developed, equipment

30. Soloman, American Playgrounds, 60. 31. Susan C. Matthews, Adventure Playgrounds vs. Traditional Playgrounds (Jacksonville: University of North Florida, 1985), 5. 32. Soloman, American Playgrounds, 11. 33. P. Hogan, Playgrounds for Free (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1974), 35-40.

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would be designed for specific age groups and equipment would be lower in height and installed in gravel and bark pits for greater safety.37 These predictions turned out to be surprisingly accurate, but trend did not last long in America because by the mid-1970s safety guidelines were installed and commercial products became dominant. Equipment began being banned and well-crafted playgrounds were replaced with state designs. Only large companies could sustain legal defense so fewer designers were willing to create unique playgrounds.38 Therefore, many necessities of playful space began to be overlooked and people went back to using commercialized play spaces. The “standardized playground” era reflected the design and redesign of manufactured playground equipment, primarily swings, slides, see-saws, superstructures, and the frequency of surrounding hard surfaces typically seen on American playgrounds throughout much of the 20th century (Figure 6).20 During the 1970’s and 1980’s, standardizing playground equipment developed simultaneously with concerns about playground injuries, increasing lawsuits, and formation of task forces to prepare national standards for playground equipment safety.39 Approaching the turn of the 21st century, many kindergartens and early child development centers were still using traditional apparatus, portable materials, and natural features, both indoors and outdoors. American public schools continued to follow a program allowing limited time (or no time) on playgrounds, and park systems continued to provide playgrounds primarily created for physical development.3 By the 21st century a movement among professional organizations was starting to create and expand playgrounds and enhance play for building fitness, health, brains and bodies. By 2012, “integrated” playgrounds or playscapes were expanding, supported by research and experience on the value and processes for integrating built materials, habitats, gardens, tools, junk,

wild places, nature areas, and indoor/outdoor experiential learning into schools, neighborhoods, and cityscapes.20 The popular opinion that has permeated through society recently is that children can turn anything into a playground. That thought has reduced the number of playgrounds being constructed and the number of public spaces dedicated to children’s play areas as developers turn those existing spaces into buildings. Additionally, with the amount of building and continuing development in urban areas, forests, streams and other outdoor areas where children used to play, play areas are no longer readily available.40 Playgrounds used to reflect theories about how children learn; today they are largely unconnected to the beliefs on the subject.41 Playgrounds should aid in preserving remembrance of the past. They can unite design with history becoming an area that collects memories. They are now defined as a colorful piece of commercial equipment that links, steps, decks and slides that is gated off from its surroundings. Playgrounds no longer function as a hub of community activity and don’t attract a variety of participants throughout a day.

Spectrum of Playable Places

For many years the idea of playful public space has been restricted to playgrounds and parks. There isn’t necessarily a need for more playgrounds but more opportunities to play in public space. Industrial play equipment leaves no room for free play. These mass-produced structures for play and recreation restrict children from having the range of experiences necessary to fully nurture their human instincts of exploration and imagination.41 We need more interventions in the public realm that prompt play without external facilitation. We need spaces that allow people to slow down, engage with spaces and rejuvenate themselves. Initiatives to make places playful and celebrate play have gained momentum in recent years. There is a range of interventions that can create playable places. These interventions can range from nationwide

34. J.L Frost, “Play Environments for Young Children in the USA: 1800-1990,” Children’s Environments Quarterly 6, no. 4 (1989): 17-24. 35. Soloman, American Playgrounds, 42. 36. Soloman, American Playgrounds, 25. 37. National Recreation Association, Playground Equipment: Today and Tomorrow (Recreation, 1962), 186-187.

Reimagining Play

organized events to virtual placemaking through technology. They can be permanent in the public realm or fleeting based on participation. The commonality of the following interventions are the seeds planted by the designers in the public realm with the hopes that it will foster a playful, engaged community. These projects give the community the invitation to engage with the design and hopefully produce the intended outcome, a sense of place.

Temporary

Counterplay is an international play festival gathering a diverse, vibrant play community every other year in Aarhus, Denmark.42 It is a living, breathing play laboratory, dedicated to a collective examination of the nature, principles, values and dynamics of play in all its diversity (Figure 7). This investigation combines theory and practice, it requires serious talk and deep thinking, but it does so with the sensation of play always present in our bodies. Similarly, Come Out and Play is an annual festival of street games that turn New York City and San Francisco into giant playgrounds that bring together innovative games, experiences and people eager to interact and play (Figure 8).43 They provide a forum for new types of public games and play by bringing together players eager to interact with the world around them and designers producing innovative new games and experiences. Over the years, thousands of players have gathered to play dozens of citywide games. Players raced through the night in a city-wide game of zombie tag. Friends faced off in life-sized Pong using only their ears to hear the ball. Paper mache pigeons were pummeled with wiffleball bats. Bicyclists armed with spray chalk and stencils competed to claim and build bike lanes. Strangers worked together to build and race blindly through labyrinths as part of an ancient lost sport. Tompkins Square Park became a putt-putt course.44 These organizations take over entire cities and give people the opportunity to participate in play, reminding those how fun it

Figure 7: People participating in CounterPlay Festival creating a massive paper castle. Mathias Poulin, 2015.

can be.

Permanent Although influential, these temporary events only come around annually, communities need access to play year-round. The following projects are examples of permanent designs that provide various functions and forms of play for its community year-round. PIXELAND is a public space project that consists of outdoor facilities in a single outdoor location, it includes landscape and playscape features for kids and leisure features for adults (Figure 9). The project is created using a combination of pixels that are individual from each other with their own functions. Each pixel has its own function and characteristics and can be seen and occupied as an independent entity. The blend of all the pixels have resulted in an eye-

38. Soloman, American Playgrounds, 44. 39. Kenneth Kutska, Playground Safety is No Accident (Ashburn VA: International Playground Safety Institute, 2011), 29. 40. Mitsuru Senada, Design of Children's Play Environments (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1992), 11. 41. Soloman, American Playgrounds, 1.

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Figure 8: People participating in outdoor activities at the Come Out and Play Festival. Dumbo, 2015.

Figure 9: Birds eye view looking over the colorful playscape of PIXEland. Amey Kandalgaonkar, 2019.

catching and playful public space.45 The largest pixel located at the center of the public space holds a playground for children, along the edges smaller pixels of varied sizes create space for small groups or individual play. The plaza holds resting areas, picnic areas with seats and tables, seating box structures to provide shadow, sunken communal benches, sloped lawns to lay down and small amphitheaters for gatherings dispersed throughout the pixels. PIXELAND has a wide range of playable features scattered around the plaza. The checkered plaza has been developed as a series of hotspots (pixels) that promote play, engagement, and civic pride within its diverse community.

in Flanders.46 The adventure mountain is part of the touristic, recreative project. The former mining city wanted to add a function to the 60-meterhigh mountain of rubble that hadn’t been used for years, and to redevelop the industrial buildings on the site into a cultural hotspot where the cities history could be experienced in a new and playful way. The industrial heritage was a leading theme throughout the design process, the outcome was an unprecedented playscape. The design consists of three parts: a pole forest that acts as a landmark, a prismatic play surface on the edge of the mountain and a coal square on the top of the mountain (Figure 10). All the play elements in the design challenge children physically to play together and use their motor skills. Be-MINE creates a new meaning for the former mining city and connects the community to once forgotten historical significance.

Creating playable space can act as a place-making mechanism in a community that is lacking a sense of place. The project be-MINE aims to bring new life into the monumental coalmining site in Beringen, the largest industrial-archeological site

Playful space can also transform desolate corners

42. Soloman, American Playgrounds, 48. 43. Playground and Recreation Association of America, “A brief history of the playground association of America,” The Playground 9, no. 1 (1915): 2-11, 39-45. 44. Playground and Recreation Association of America, The Normal Course in Play (New York: The Association, 1925), 59.

Reimagining Play

Figure 10: Children climbing the be-MINE playscape located in Beringen, Belgium. Benoit Meeus, 2016.

of a city that were never thought to be significant. City Thread is the winner of the Passageways 2.0 international design competition. The design turned an unused and abandoned 6,200 square foot alley in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee into a vibrant public space (Figure 11).47 The idea of the design is to function as a social infrastructure. The project created a space where the community can come together for unique public activities and informal meeting place. It is made up of a 500 foot linear steel tube along with painted graphic surfaces. The project supports a number of different programs and activities. The tube structure that zig zags down the alley and the painted graphics on the ground create a variety of smaller spaces within the alley, it begins to break down the overall space into a series of more intimate spaces, or “urban rooms”. The project is designed to be functionally open to interpretation, many potential “functions” including informal lounging/sitting, mini-stages,

and movie screenings, and festivals are possible.47 The design allows users, tenants, and those in charge of programming activities to interpret the space and utilize the alley in whatever way they seem fit. By doing this the project generates a diverse range of users. Once a dingy, unused and disconnected space in the downtown area, City Thread has created a visually and socially vibrant space that serves as the City Center for the community and provides a renewed sense of urban excitement and engagement between the diverse population downtown.

Fleeting

Projects do not need to be high budget in order to be successful. The following projects explore the potential for small-scale, small budget, urban interventions designed in accordance with community feedback, resourcefulness, and practical design gestures. There are opportunities to create playful spaces that are dependent

45. “Pixeland/ 100architects,” ArchDaily, last modified April 24, 2019, https://www.archdaily.com/915563/pixeland-100architects?ad_source=search&ad_ medium=search_result_all. 46. “Play Landscape be-MINE/ Carve + OMGEVING,” ArchDaily, last modified October 3, 2016, https://www.archdaily.com/796396/play-landscape-bemine-carve-plus-omgeving?ad_source=search&ad_medium=search_result_all

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Figure 11: View from above looking into the once abandoned alleyway where the installation City Thread now occupies. Gary Gomez, 2018.

completely on participation. These fleeting spaces are small scale and a cost-effective way to bring playfulness into the public realm. In order to make our experiences more playful, there isn’t necessarily a need for large-scale interventions anymore. Technology which in the past has seemed an impediment to civic engagement has slowly begun to facilitate play. Every year, the Playable City Award by Bristol invites and works with smart technologies used to build people centric playful cities. Their creative interactive installations entice people to engage with the city in new and fun ways. One of the winning projects of the Playable City Award 2013, “Hello Lamp Post” by Pan Studio, asked people to interact with inanimate objects of the city (Figure 12). It is a playful engagement platform inviting people to strike up interesting, surprising and often funny conversations with familiar street objects (e.g. lamp posts, bins, post

Figure 12: Image of how Hello Lamp Post interacts with humans through text messaging. Pan Studio, 2015.

boxes etc.) using text messages or Facebook Messenger.48 It encourages people to look at the city with fresh eyes and see it as a playground. The team spent the early months of the project thinking about memory and city, and how we build our own psychogeography’s of familiar environments.49 The idea of harnessing cities as playful spaces is an attractive one, especially when it’s about concentrating attention, not on the big buildings and official tourist attractions, but on the little objects that get overlooked. “Urbanimals” by Laboratory for Architectural Experiments is an interactive visual installation displayed on empty surfaces in various parts of cities.50 Like City Thread, it focuses on transforming unused and neglected areas of cities into play spaces. Urbanimals is an experimental interactive environment responsive to human motion (Figure 13).51 The installation allows interaction with the built environment in ways

47. “City Thread/SPORTS,” ArchDaily, last modified February 8, 2019, https://www.archdaily.com/910948/city-thread-sports. 48. “Hello Lamp Post”, Playable City, accessed November 24, 2019, www.playablecity.com/projects/hello-lamp-post/. 49. “What is Hello Lamp Post?,” Hello Lamp Post, accessed November 24, 2019, https://www.hellolamppost.co.uk/. 50. Sebastian Dobiesz, “Urbanimals,” accessed November 20, 2019.

Reimagining Play

Figure 13: People interacting with Wild 3D "Urbanimals" in unexpected downtown area. WIRED, 2015.

Figure 14: Demonstration of how the augmented reality game Pokemon Go immerses itself into public space. Miriam Harris, 2018.

it has never been experienced before. It is a medium that evokes activeness and creativity, as well as stimulate the senses, and foster new experiences. Urbanimals can be found in any space of transition in cities, and actively participates with the audience. Urbanimals are there to surprise you in locations you would not expect any adventure to happen, and lifts spirits by encouraging people to explore and play. Urbanimals brings life to our mundane daily routines. The goal of the project was to make people slow down and engage with the cityscape.

attention to historic sites creating a playful way of interacting with history. As a player makes their way along the map on their screen, they will eventually encounter a small burst of little computer-generated leaves signaling a nearby Pokémon to catch. The game immerses itself even further into public space with “Pokéstops” or “gyms,” which are usually landmarks, historic sites or other well-known locations containing even more capturable creatures allowing the player to “level up”. By playing, people are exploring unfamiliar areas of the public realm, and in the process, they are also socializing with strangers.53 Many people who would not have stepped outdoors otherwise have confessed that the game has given them a reason to get out, wander, play, and socialize.52 Pokémon Go invites people to reconsider not only how people use public spaces such as streets and parks, but also the ways in which technology has woven itself into the public realm. It creates a virtual,

Another unexpected project that encourages engagement with the cityscape is Pokémon Go, a popular augmented reality game that boosts physical activity (Figure 14). The game raises the general spatial awareness of players through interaction with people and places.52 Pokémon Go is a positive contribution to virtual placemaking. Resembling be-MINE, Pokémon Go also draws

51. “Urbanimals,” LAX, accessed November 25, 2019, http://lax.com.pl/portfolio_page/urbanimals/. 52. Tim Althoff, “Influence of Pokémon Go on Physical Activity: Study and Implications,” last modified December 6, 2016, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ articles/PMC5174727/.

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online community that in many ways is real and in public. The game is a clear example of how technology and gamification can merge to result in unprecedented playful experiences in space. These examples show the range of possibilities in which cities can begin to incorporate playable places, on both a large and small scale, as well as permanent or fleeting involvement into their public realm as a placemaking method. The purpose of play and spaces that enable play or play type of events are to provide a successful sociable moment with the further goal of establishing a positive ever-lasting memory. This promotes civic pride, intellectual stimulation and creativity in a community by developing memorable events and positive feelings through play.

53. “The Social Life of Virtual Urban Spaces,” Project for Public Spaces, last modified June 26, 2016, https://www.pps.org/article/go-pokemon-go-thesocial-life-of-virtual-urban-spaces.

Reimagining Play

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Chapter 3 Design Testing

Site Analysis Play for All Ages Landscape Manipulation Industrial Framing Testing Topography Refining the Landscape Architectural Techniques

Design Testing

SITE ANALYSIS

Site: Prescott Park Portsmouth, NH The city of Portsmouth is located in southeastern New Hampshire across the Piscataqua River from Kittery, ME. It is New Hampshire's oldest settlement, second oldest city, first capital, and only seaport. In 1623, a fishing settlement was built at the river's mouth. First called Piscataqua and then Strawberry Banke, it became a bustiling colonial port city. The chosen site for this thesis is Prescott Park, an open space and outdoor arts venue that runs along the Piscataqua River. Across from Prescott Park is Strawberry Banke Museum, a 10 acre restoration of historic homes and shops dating from 1695 to the 1950s. The historic district is highlighted in blue on the diagram shown.

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Design Testing

SITE ANALYSIS

Existing Conditions Prescott Park is an incredible asset for the City of Portsmouth. Generations of memories have been made here; however, the park faces the growing challenge of supporting increasing demands for usage. As Portsmouth continues to evolve as a vibrant waterfront downtown, more and more residents and visitors gravitate here. As one of the few points of access to the Piscataqua River, Prescott Park is currently an open space and outdoor arts venue that is cherished by the community. However, the parkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s physical infrastructure systems continue to age and endure a harsh waterfront environment. As elements wear and as usage increases, it is becoming harder to maintain and operate a safe and accessible waterfront park.

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Public Walk

Stage Platform

Lawn Areas

03 Beach Area

Shaw Warehouse

Sheafe Warehouse

Docks

Formal Gardens

Hovey Fountain

The Whale

The Anchor

Liberty Pole

Design Testing

SITE ANALYSIS

Park Usage This site serves hundreds of thousands of people every year. There are four formal park licensees who currently make use of the park annually; they are the New Hampshire Art Association, Prescott Park Arts Festival, The Gundalow Company, and The Players Ring. The New Hampshire Art Association (NHAA) uses the Sheafe Warehouse for the display of an annual juried exhibition. The Prescott Park Arts Festival (PPAF) predominantly uses the Shaw and Sheafe Warehouse for storage and office space as well as the seasonal stage. These organizations drive the program of this site. Dozens of private permitted events also take place within the park including weddings, birthday parties, yoga classes, and memorial ceremonies. Informal daily happenings occur by the hundreds. These include picnics, reading, fishing, painting, school field trips and so on. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a little something for everyone at Prescott Park and the goal of this project is to maintain that inclusivity.

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NH Art Association

- Uses the Sheafe Warehouse for the display of an annual juried exhibit by their members in the summer months.

Prescott Park Arts Festival

- Uses office space in the Shaw Warehouse as well as the third floor for costume and prop storage - Uses Sheafe Warehouse for off season lighting and rigging storage.

Gundalow Company

- Makes use of the dock and ramp next to the Sheafe Warehouse

- Tickets are purchased at their storefront on Marcy Street across from the Marine Railroad Head House.

Playersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Ring Theater

- Current tenant and steward of the building where its acclaimed black box theater productions are held.

Private Uses

- Private permitted events also take place within the park; weddings, family reunions, public forum rallies, birthday parties, yoga classes, memorial ceremonies, and the Fairy House Tour.

Informal Uses

- Informal daily happenings occur by the hundreds; picnics, mom sharing time, meditation, reading, fishing, painting, field trips, walking, running, frisbee, etc.

Design Testing

SITE ANALYSIS

Daily and Seasonal Site Use Through the culmination of Portsmouth's event calendar and personal investigation I was able to map the daily and seasonally use of the downtown area of Portsmouth. I discovered the most active hours of the day range from 7-9am and 5-8pm. Seasonally the most activities take place in the months of June-September.

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Cultural Visitors

DEC

Workers

Students

JAN

NOV

Sports/Athletics

FEB

Residents Foodies

Night Owls

OCT

MAR

SEP

APR

JULY

Single Day Events Multi Day Events

22:00

Singular Activities Recreation

Commercial Program

23:00

JUNE

00:00

1:00 2:00

21:00

Repeating Activities

MAY

AUG

3:00

20:00

4:00

19:00

5:00

18:00

6:00

7:00

17:00 16:00

8:00 15:00

9:00 14:00

13:00

12:00

11:00

10:00

Design Testing

SITE ANALYSIS

Historic Landmarks The Portsmouth Downtown Historic District encompasses the historic urban core of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. With a history dating to the 17th century, Portsmouth was New Hampshire's principal seaport and the center of its economy for many decades. The architecture of its urban center is reflective of nearly four centuries of history. The district is roughly L-shaped, radiating from the downtown Market Square area to South Street in the south and Madison and Columbia streets in the west, with more than 1,200 historically significant buildings. The buildings highlighted in black on the map provided are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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Design Testing

SITE ANALYSIS

Predicted Sea-Level Rise: Year 2100 The Coastal Resilience study done by Portsmouth’s Planning Department modeled four sea level elevations representing various combinations of sea level rise and storm surge. The scenarios are based on two scenarios of global greenhouse gas emissions: a low emissions scenario ("best case") and a high emissions scenario ("worst case"), projected forward to the year 2100. Even in the best-case emissions scenario the sea level could rise 2.5 feet by 2100. Sea level rise is an increase in the average height of the ocean's surface. Storm surge is an abnormal rise of water generated by offshore storms, over and above the predicted astronomical tides. This rise in water level can cause extreme flooding in coastal areas particularly when storm surge coincides with normal high tide. Preparing to protect Portsmouth's wealth of cultural and historical resources is an important challenge the community is faced with.

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• The 7.5 foot flood elevation is about 3 feet higher than today's normal high tide and approximates the Mean Higher High Water (MHHW) in 2100 under the best case scenario. • The 11.5 foot flood elevation is close to the present day 100-year coastal flood at high tide, and also corresponds to the normal high tide in 2100 under the worst case scenario. • The 13.5 foot flood elevation represents the 2050 100-year storm surge at high tide under the worst case scenario, and the 2100 100-year storm surge at high tide under the best case scenario. • The 18 foot flood elevation corresponds to the 2100 100-year storm surge at high tide under the worst case scenario.

03 7.5' Flood Elevation

11' Flood Elevation

13.5' Flood Elevation

18' Flood Elevation

Design Testing

SITE ANALYSIS

Evolution of the Waterfront Illustrated to the right are the changes to the waterfront of Prescott Park over the last two centuries, beginning in 1813. The proposal to redevelop Prescott Park incorporates the piers used from 1813 through the early 20th century. The piers, initially constructed for commerce along the river, became a magnet for brothels and illicit activity until the Prescott sisters' involvement in 1949. The idea of the pier layout as part of this thesis pays hommage to the historical maritime culture.

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1813

1850

1925

2020

1892

Design Testing

SITE ANALYSIS

Color and Materiality Analysis The architectural styles located in the historic area of Portsmouth consist of first period, Georgian, and Federal. These styles use specific materials that create a clearly defined street facade as well as a materiality and color pallette. The First Period 1600-1700

First Period homes all share similar stylistic elements that tie them to this group. One of the most prominent of these similarities is a steeply pitched roof, which would have generally been finished with wooden shingles. Visible from the exterior of the home, a large central chimney was also a common fixture in First Period designs, as it was the most efficient way to heat all areas of the house. On the facade of a First Period home, which commonly features a side-gabled entrance, small and often asymmetrical windows appear in the characteristic diamond-pane glass. Georgian 1700-1780

Visible on the facade, a Georgian home would have a symmetrical layout, made up of a central entrance that is surrounded by horizontally and vertically aligned 6 over 6 pane windows, arranged in a 5-bay facade.

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Houses built in this style prior to 1750 often feature one central chimney, while later models often featured paired chimneys. The Georgian home itself would likely have been constructed from a wooden frame, and either finished with wooden shingles or clapboards, both of which may have been dressed up with decorative cornice details. Federal 1780-1820

Like the First Period and Georgian styles that came before it, the Federal style of architecture can also be easily classified by a set group of defining characteristics. Visible on the facade, a Federal structure has a symmetrical layout, featuring a central entry porch leading to an elaborately decorated doorway. Decorations would likely include crowns or dentals, molding, and semi-circular windows overhead. Surrounding the doorway, double hung windows with 6 over 6 glass panes lie both horizontally and vertically aligned. The exterior of a Federal home would either be finished with painted wooden clapboards or with brick. Louvered painted shutters completed the style of the Federal home, as it was seen from the outside.

First Period: Sherburne House

Georgian: Boyd-Raynes House

Federal: Captain Barnes House

Design Testing

SITE ANALYSIS

Existing Site Vegetation The diagram to the right illustrates the peak bloom time for existing flowers, trees, and shrubs located at Prescott Park. Color begins at Prescott Park in early spring with flowering bulbs such as daffodils, tulips and hyacinths and rows of flowering crabapple trees. In the summer, sunnier areas of the formal garden are filled with tall ‘Southern Belle’ hibiscus growing along with rudbeckias, heliopsis, siberian iris, buddleia, thalictrum, globe thistle, phlox and sedums. Surrounding the outside of the formal gardens are rhododendrons, weeping katsura trees, Chinese fringe trees, stewartia, franklinia and little leaf lindens. The gardens at Prescott Park were created when the Prescott Sisters purchased the waterfront acreage in the 1930s and willed it to the City in 1954 for public enjoyment. In 1975, the Trustees of the park agreed to invite the University of New Hampshire to move its All-American Selections Program trial gardens from Madbury to Prescott Park, and they created 40 formal garden beds on the South Lawn of Prescott Park. Those trial gardens, planted with “a living catalog of flowers,” were designed to study which varieties of specific ornamental plants performed best in the seacoast environment. The gardens of

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Prescott Park serve the purpose of being both beautiful and educational. Plants and flowers are identified so visitors who might want to choose something similar for their own gardens know what they are. The formal gardens continue to be planted with annuals purchased locally by the City and maintained by Parks & Greenery with help from seasonal staff.

Flowers

Trees

Shrubs Jan

Feb

Mar

April

May

June

July

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Design Testing

SITE ANALYSIS

Plants for Play Plants can serve a wide variety of functions in a childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s play environment. They have play value as props, and they can engage a childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s senses through texture, color, and fragrance. Plants can provide seasonal interest as they change through the seasons, shade and shelter from the sun and rain, and some even have edible fruit. Some plants can serve as screens that can hide unsightly equipment or provide privacy, and as a habitat that provides a home for local fauna and habitats.

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1 Colorful- colorful for a long time 2 Touch- unique textures 3 Smell- aromatic plants 4 Creating Spaces- structural plants 5 Props- plants used for play 6 Move- visually move in the wind 7 Seasonal Change- year round interest 8 Edible- plants that can be eaten

Annual Sunflower

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Western Sword Fern

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 American Sweetgum

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Feather Reed Grass

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Lambâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ear

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Bugbane

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Blueberry

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Maple

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Knautia

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Black Eyed Susan

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Mexican Feather Grass

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Russian Sage

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Lavender

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Rosemary

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Foutain Grass

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Design Testing

DESIGN TEST 1

Play for All Ages

After researching play in relation to age, I tested splitting the site of Prescott Park into areas that are geared toward specific age groups: young children, ages 5-12, teens, and adults/elderly.

1. Infants and Toddlers

The area designed specifically for infants and toddlers include soft landscapes and opportunities for a safe "sense of risk" and curiosity. 2. Children 5-12

The area for children ages 5-12 includes opportunities for free play and discovery of plant life and nature as well as play structures that promote creativity and imagination. 3. Teens

The teens area includes organized athletic fields and courts as well as small gathering spaces and separation from other age groups. 4. Adults/Elderly

The area for adults and elderly consists of areas for rest, quiet spaces, and views towards the river.

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2 3

1. Infants and Toddlers

2. Children 5-12

3. Teens

4. Adults/Elderly

Design Testing

DESIGN TEST 2

Landscape Manipulation Site Strategy

My intial site strategy was to maximize the connection to the waterfront from the surrounding neighborhood. I created direct routes of passage from the main residential streets to the Piscataqua River. I began integrating walking paths to create means of circulation through the site both parallel and perpendicular to the waters edge. By inserting potential bulding locations along the circulation paths, I was able to begin to understand the balance between the built environment and nature. Architectural Techniques

I started creating a building strategy that incorporated the manipulation of landscape. This strategy of peeling the earth's surface in strips began to create a variety of park experiences and invitations for play. I tested this strategy on two different programs, a playscape and seating for an outdoor theater. The playscape was successful strategy, the unjulatng stripes created paths, play structures, seating, and other opportunities for creative play. The same strategy used for the outdoor theater created a functional

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seating area. The back side created a hill that could be used for seating, kids to roll down or sledding during winter months.

Existing Site

Connection to Water

Path Manipulation

Building Insertion

Playscape

Theater Seating

Design Testing

DESIGN TEST 3

Industrial Framing Site Strategy

After analyzing my Design Test 2: Site Strategy I wanted to explore other options for the walking path that runs through the site. I began researching the evolution of the waterfront and began overlaying historical maps over the existing site. I outlined the 1813 maps old pier edge and superimposed it onto the existing park to use a pathway across the site. After doing so it created opening and nooks for buildings to sit within the weaving path. The paths created from the 1813 pier outline were not functional but created a meandering walkway through the nature of the park. A secondary circulation path with more direct routes would need to be created for passerbys. The usage of the 1813 map was succesful in creating a connection to Portsmouth's maritime historical culture. Architectural Techniques

The second architectural technique that I began testing was "industrial framing". The goal was to create buildings that framed the view of the river rather than block it. These structures acted as a bridge between the

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historical neighborhood and the waterfront, framing both as you circulated through the structures. I looked at both an art venue pavilion and an environmental center as programs to be incorporated into the park. The art venue could be used by the NH Art Association that puts on exhibitions throughout the year. The environmental center could be be used as an opportunity to expand upon the Trial Garden and to teach both children and adults about native plant and animal life.

Existing Site

1813 Map

1813 Map Docks Outline

Pattern Insertion

Art Venue

Environmental Center

Design Testing

DESIGN TEST 4

Testing Topography Site Strategy

Expanding from Design Test 3: Site Strategy, I wanted the park users to be able to engage with the waterfront in a more intriguing way while at the same time relating the park back to its original maritime historical culture. By overlaying the outline of the docks from the 1813 map onto the existing site I began to experiement with the topography to create a new waterfront edge mimicking the piers from 1813. Model 1

Model 1 demonstrates the use of the outline to create raised pathways that extend out over the water and weave back into the site. Model 2

Model 2 uses the outline as a boundary to remove that earth in order to create channels that the water can infiltrate as tides change. Model 3

Similar to Model 2, Model 3 uses the 1813 pier outline as the boundary of raised landscape creating channels between the existing topography and the raised.

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Model 4

Model 4 experiemented with using the 1813 pier outline as a change in materiality. This allowed for the historic relation of the 1813 piers to exist on the site in a simple yet symbolic way.

03 Model 1: Raised Pathways

Model 2: Depressed Topography

Model 3: Raised Topography

Model 4: Change in Materiality

Design Testing

DESIGN TEST 5

Refined the Landscape Jumping off from Design Test 4: Site Strategy, I created a new waterfront for the park. By overlaying the 1813 pier outline onto the existing site and then depressing and raising the topography, I created a dynamic interaction with the waterfront. By changing the materiality, everything outside of the boundary made the historical connection more evident and made a variety of programatic opportunities. Model 6

Model 6 is an example of a combination of Models 1-4 in Design Test 4. It consists of a raised path along the boundary, along with raised topography within the boundary and change in materiality for eveything outside on the boundary. Model 6 begins to create a dynamic landscape theme that a variety of programs and uses can be incorporated in. Model 7

Model 7 creates a hierachry based on Model 6. It explores what happens when certain strategies from Models 1-4 are more or less prominent. Model 7 uses the raised paths along the boundary line in only specific areas where it would be most effective. Portions

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were raised and depressed in order to create a more lively environment. A pallette of materials and colors can also begin to be integrated into different parts of the site.

Existing Site

1813 Map Overlay

Topography Manipulation

Materiality Change

6. Combination

7. Hierarchy

Design Testing

DESIGN TEST 6

Architectural Techniques Testing three different architectural techniques (Landscape Manipulation, Framing, and Industrial Post and Beam) at three different programs/site locations (Pavilion, Playscape, and Waterfront) was an effective way to understand where these techniques could be the most functional on the site. Landscape Manipulation

Continuing my exploration from Design Test 2: Architectural Techniques, I created a pavilion, playscape, and waterfront feature. All three designs use the landscape to create the 3-dimensional program. The strips of earth emphasize the connections from the historic neighborhood and the river, leading people directly to the waterfront. Framing

Expanding on Design Test 3: Architectural Techniques, this Framing exploration continues the idea of framing both the water and the historic buildings opposite of it. These concepts create a clear connection to the waterfront without blocking any views. Industrial Post and Platform

The pavilion concept for the Industrial Post

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and Platform technique was to relate to the sites maritime culture again. The posts mimic the ones used for the historic piers and the range of platform heights act as docks that can be used even as the sea level begins to rise.

Landscape Manipulation: Pavilion

Landscape Manipulation: Playscape

Landscape Manipulation: Waterfront

Framing: Pavilion

Framing: Playscape

Framing: Waterfront

Post and Platform: Pavilion

Design Testing

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Chapter 4

Pla(y)ce: Reimagining Prescott Park PLA(Y)CE Art Venue Ecological Research Center Outdoor Theater Cafes and Beer Gardens Scenario 2100: Storm Surge Analytique

Pla(y)ce: Prescott Park

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The identity of a place can be experienced by integrating play to create both a resilient coastline and inclusive public space with a spectrum of playful experiences. Portsmouthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Prescott Park lacks resiliency to rising sea levels and inclusive public space for year round use. Using play as a method to explore identity, the historic coastline becomes a functional playscape that prompts imagination and physical interaction. The functional playscape aims to facilitate a range of experiences while at the same time preserving the historic buildings along the rapidly changing coastline.

Main Goals: IDENTITY

Protect and preserve historic resources and enhance the maritime historical connection.

PLAY

Include meaningful invitations for youth to play and ensure presence for theater, dance, music, and the visual arts.

WATERFRONT

Integrate coastal resiliency strategies to preserve historic buildings and maximize waterfront interaction.

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IDENTITY

One of the three running themes that relate directly to my thesis is IDENTITY: The goal is to protect and preserve historic resources and enhance the maritime historical relationship. By analyzing and researching the site I was able to uncover the key features of the identity of Prescott Park, including the strong historic content, the diverse existing site vegetation, and the evolution of the waterfront starting in 1813. Location of Historic Homes

Color and Materiality Analysis

Existing Site Vegetation

Flowers

Trees

Shrubs Jan

Feb

Mar

April

May

July

June

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Evolution of the Waterfront

1813

1850

1892

1925

2020 Pla(y)ce: Prescott Park

PLAY

PLAY is another running theme with the goal to include meaningful invitations for youth to play and ensure the presence for theater, dance, music and the visual arts. I studied both the daily and seasonal uses of the site and began looking at ways vegetation can be used for play. Plants for Play Annual Sunflower

Feather Reed Grass

Lavender

Black Eyed Susan

Blueberry

1 Colorful- colorful for a long time

2 Touch- unique textures 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Western Sword Fern

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Lambâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ear

4 Creating Spaces- structural

Rosemary

Mexican Feather Grass

Maple

3 Smell- aromatic plants

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

plants

5 Props- plants used for play 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 American Sweetgum

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Bugbane

wind

Foutain Grass

Russian Sage

Knautia

6 Move- visually move in the

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

7 Seasonal Change- year round interest

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

DEC

eaten

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Seasonal Site Use

8 Edible- plants that can be

Daily Site Use JAN

NOV

22:00

23:00

00:00

1:00 2:00

21:00

FEB

3:00

20:00

OCT

MAR

4:00

19:00

5:00

18:00

SEP

APR

6:00

7:00

17:00 16:00

MAY

AUG JULY

15:00

9:00 14:00

JUNE

13:00

12:00

11:00

10:00

Single Day Events

Repeating Activities

Cultural Visitors

Residents

Singular Activities

Commercial Program

Students

Night Owls

Multi Day Events

8:00

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Recreation

Workers

Foodies

WATERFRONT

The condition of the waterfront is important to address throughout my design in order to integrate coastal resiliency strategies to preserve historic resources and maximize waterfront connection. The series of maps corresponds to the year 2100 storm surge at high tide. In this scenario many buildings on the National Register of Historic Places will be destroyed along with Portsmouthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coastline. 7.5' Flood Elevation

11' Flood Elevation

13.5' Flood Elevation

18' Flood Elevation

Pla(y)ce: Prescott Park

PLA(Y)CE: PRESCOTT PARK

Along with addressing coastal resiliency, my goal is to create a public space that prompts imagination and physical interaction by manipulating landscape and creating an integrated built environment. The formal program of the park will focus on the visual and performing arts as well as education of the impacts of climate change. An art venue, environmental center, and outdoor theater are strategically placed throughout the park while playscapes, gardens, and cafes tie these structures together creating a balance between the built environment and natural landscape. 1. ART VENUE

2. ECOLOGICAL CENTER

3. THEATER

4. BEER GARDEN/CAFES

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3 4

Pla(y)ce: Prescott Park

FLYTHROUGH VIDEO

Throughout design testing I worked simultaneously looking at the large scale site strategy and the individual pavilion scale. My overall site strategy came from overlaying the 1813 pier map onto the existing site and outlining the old pier edge. From there I tested raising and depressing the outline, using the outline as a raised path, and simply changing the materiality. I tested program and building strategies by using three architectural techniques that unify the site as a whole. The three techniques are landscape manipulation, post and beam, and framing.

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Through this series of images, an understanding of the overall site strategy and series of interventions becomes evident, showing the integration with one another to create a cohesive park. The full video can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsyaRtX7xes&feature=youtu.be

Pla(y)ce: Prescott Park

ART VENUE

This art venue provides an enclosed space for the NH Art Association to hold their annual exhibitions as well as teach a variety of art classes. The attached post and beam structure acts as an enlarged jungle gym that can be utilized for look out points of the park and access to the river. The attached structure is contructed so it can flood during storm surges without being damaged.

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Pla(y)ce: Prescott Park

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Pla(y)ce: Prescott Park

ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH CENTER

The ecological research center is designed to encourage education about climate change, sea level rise, and native plant and animal life. The roof of the building creates a playful approach to views of the Piscataqua River, while seating steps at the rivers edge and narrow channels allow for interaction with the river and its environment.

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Pla(y)ce: Prescott Park

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Pla(y)ce: Prescott Park

OUTDOOR THEATER

The primary user of the outdoor theater will be the Prescott Park Arts Festival (PPAF), who puts on several public performances throughout the year. The theater is conveniently located next to the Shaw and Sheafe Warehouse as well as a beer garden that provides seating with views of the stage. The PPAF currently utilizes these historic buildings for prop storage and can now utilize them as a back stage resource with the theater's new location. When not in use the seating area of the outdoor theater can be used as open lawn space for various informal uses.

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Pla(y)ce: Prescott Park

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Pla(y)ce: Prescott Park

BEER GARDENS AND CAFES

A series of cafes and beer gardens are located throughout the site. The structures provide facilities such as bathrooms, food, and water for the park users. The placement of these structures aims to strike a balance between the built environment and natural landscape. The design mimicks the art venue using a similar architectural strategy and makes use of similar materiality as the surrounding neighborhood.

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Pla(y)ce: Prescott Park

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Pla(y)ce: Prescott Park

STORM SEQUENCE

The following series of images illustrates the evolution of a storm surge. The purpose is to show how this proposal adapts to the rise in sea level and the resiliency strategies integrated into the park so it could withstand and purposely adapt with climate change. The full video can be found at https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=PzoxGHzKxFc

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Pla(y)ce: Prescott Park

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Chapter 5

Future Considerations

It has been said many times that a thesis is never really finished. I've merely scratched the surface of the theories presented in this book. In the future I will revisit and build upon my outcomes, using them as a new jumping off point. Revisiting my method of physical model making would be effective in refining the overall topography manipulation. Using a series of site sections may become valuable alongside physical models in order to understand how the buildings and landscape engage one another. The use of animations was also an effective tool in understanding the full experience of the site and how it can adapt and change as the sea level rises. A clearer hierarchy of criteria may become useful when revisiting this thesis. Identity, play, and waterfront were three very large topics to tackle all at once. By choosing one topic to be used as an overarching theme while the other two were used to support that topic would have been a more successful approach to creating a criteria. During my thesis defense the main topics discussed were seasonal site usage, vegetation/ plant life, and overall site circulation. Throughout the design process I focused on how the park is used during the warmer New England months and how the site can respond during coastal storms and flood. However, I never fully considered site usage during the winter months. Although the physical interior of the buildings can be used during the winter, questions regarding how the landscape can be used were raised. There are simple ways the landscape can be transformed into a winter play area; incorporating a seasonal ice skating rink in the open lawn area, a sledding hill along the back of the ecological research center, and a skate park are all ideas that could be explored. Other opportunities to be analyzed center around certain buildings like

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Future Considerations

101

the beer gardens and theater that were "boarded up" in the off-season and acted as a visual queue for the community who eagerly waits for the reopening of them as a symbol for the start of warmer days again. Further research and investigation about landscape architecture and salt tolerant plants would be another topic that I would help expand the breadth of my thesis work. Questions of how the plants in formal gardens could be used more architecturally to move people through the site and create more varieties of spaces within the park were brought up. A more extensive look into landscape architecture and the methods used could help shape the way the gardens, trees and other plant life are placed throughout the site. Further research on plants that can be used for both aesthetic and storm surge mitigation purposes could help strengthen the argument that the functional playscape acts as a resilient strategy to preserve the historic buildings. Revisiting and revising my methods for site strategies could be beneficial in creating a clearer circulation throughout the park. Although the logical path is parallel to the waterfront, my site strategy primarily has circulation running perpendicular out to the piers. What pulls people out to the end of the piers, that are essentially deadends, other than to engage with the waterfront? How can the piers engage more with the waters edge, similar to the back side of the art venue? These are questions that are in need of further investigation and iterative design testing to solve. The identity of a place can be experienced by integrating play to create both a resilient coastline and inclusive public space with a spectrum of playful experiences. Resiliency strategies such

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as, armoring the shoreline by building massive man-made sea walls and abandoning low lying development altogether are not the only solution. Coastal communities can manage changing sea levels by integrating functional playscapes that facilitate a range of experiences while at the same time adapting to the rapidly changing coastline. Redeveloping the shoreline in such a way that it gives the opportunity for communities to interact and engage with one another in the public realm can start to bring a refreshing playful way to think about and experience sea level rise.

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List of Figures

Figure 1: Children playing their way through Griesheim, Germany. Street view of playful walkways, by Bespielbare Stadt, 2017. “How a small town in Germany became the model for the ‘Playable City’.” Child in the City. Accessed December 10,

2019. https://www.childinthecity.org/2017/02/24/how-a-small-town-in-germany-became-a-model-for-the-playablecity/.

Figure 2: Children playing on one of the first outdoor gymnasiums. Taken from ground level looking up to play equipment, Dallas 1900. Frost, Joe. “Evolution of American Playgrounds.” Scholarpedia 7, no. 12 (2012): 1-30423.

Figure 3: Boston Sand Garden- the first organized and supervised playground in America. "When Boston Invented Playgrounds."

HUB History. Accessed December 10, 2015. http://www.hubhistory.com/episodes/when-boston-invented-playgroundsepisode-111/#jp-carousel-2027.

Figure 4: Children at the historic Hull-House playground. Taken from ground level looking up to play equipment, Special Collections, UIC Daley Library. " Hull-House Museum Explores the Right to Play." UIC Today. Last modified April 23, 2014. https://today.uic.edu/right-to-play-exhibit.

Figure 5: Children playing on a wooden climbing structure at Bandley Hill Adventure Playground. Taken from ground level

looking up to play equipment, Stevenage Museum/Donne Buck, June 6, 1970. "Visiting the Adventure Playground."

Talking New Towns. Accessed December 10, 2019. https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/content/towns/stevenage/ donne-buck/donne-bcks-lady-denington-visiting-adventure-playground.

Figure 6: Standardized playground consisting of manufactured euqipment surrounded by hard surface. Kolb Elementary School,

Dublin, CA. Courtesy of OneDublin.org. Rife, Erica. “The History of Play: Part 2.” Last modified June 8, 2017. https:// designmuseumfoundation.org/blog/2017/06/08/history-play-part-2/.

Figure 7: People participating in CounterPlay Festival creating a massive paper castle. Poulsen, Mathias. "The What and Why of

CounterPlay."CounterPlay. Last modified January 16, 2019. http://www.counterplay.org/the-what-why-of-counterplay/.

Figure 8: People participating in outdoor activities at the Come Out and Play Festival. Dumbo. “Q+A: Come Out and Play.” Accessed December 1, 2019. https://dumbo.is/blogging/come-out-play.

Figure 9: Birds eye view looking over the colorful playscape of PIXEland. Amey Kandalgaonkar, 2019. ArchDaily. “Pixeland/ 100architects.”

Last

modified

April

24,

source=search&ad_medium=search_result_all.

2019.

https://www.archdaily.com/915563/pixeland-100architects?ad_

Figure 10: Children climbing the be-MINE playscape located in Beringen, Belgium. Benoit Meeus, 2016. ArchDaily. “Play Landscape

be-MINE/ Carve + OMGEVING.” Last modified October 3, 2016. https://www.archdaily.com/796396/play-landscapebe-mine-carve-plus-omgeving?ad_source=search&ad_medium=search_result_all.

Figure 11: View from above looking into the once abandoned alleyway where the installation City Thread now occupies. Gary

Gomez, 2018. ArchDaily. “City Thread/ SPORTS.” Last modified February 8, 2019. https://www.archdaily.com/910948/ city-thread-sports.

Figure 12: Image of how Hello Lamp Post interacts with humans through text messaging. Pan Studio, 2015. Playable City. “Hello Lamp Post.” Accessed November 15, 2019. www.playablecity.com/projects/hello-lamp-post/.

Figure 13: People interacting with Wild 3D "Urbanimals" in unexpected downtown area. WIRED, 2015. Dobiesz, Sebastian. “Urbanimals.” Playable City 2015. Accessed November 20, 2019. www.playablecity.com/projects/urbanimals/.

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Figure 14: Demonstration of how the augmented reality game Pokemon Go immerses itself into public space. Miriam Harris, 2018.

Harris, Miriam. "Pokemon Go Technology." Digital Arts. Last modified February 5, 2018. https://www.digitalartsonline. co.uk/news/hacking-maker/youll-soon-be-able-use-pokemon-gos-tech-make-your-own-ar-games-experiences/,

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