RECLAIMING THE RESIDENTIAL STREET AS PLAYSPACE
CJ PART 1 DE1082 Corey Hastings
TS TE N N O C
INTRODUCTION ...........................................4 -13 BACKGROUND How to read this document Work Experience-Lego Abstract Time Plan Proposing a direction
EXPLORATION ...........................................14-51 DISCOVER Secondary Research Discourse Analysis Fear Factor Toy Timeline
DEFINE Exploration Interim Interim - Time Plan Rethinking the Brief Reflection
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DEVELOP Networking Parent’s Street Workshop Maragaret Westwood The Yard Idea Generation
DELIVER
Exploration Hand-in Reflection Major Project Initial Briefs
MAJOR PROJECT ......................................52-89 DISCOVER Reconnecting with Collaborators Collaborator Feedback Planning for Major project - Minor Interim Brainstorming Bodystorming Sketching Over Models
DEFINE Major project - Minor Interim Reflection
DEVELOP Rise and Design Event Joanna Feeley Paul Windle Studio Research with Kids Reflection Elevator Pitch & Going Forward
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HOW TO READ THIS DOCUMENT... What the activity was... Why it was undertaken... Any key findings... Personal reflection Key questions/issues
Relates to which section
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“Capital of Children has created exciting play areas around Billund which exemplify play, learning and creativity. Each of the spots are special, and several are quite unique! All of our playspots encourage kids and teens to be active and creative in their play.�
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WORK EXPERIENCE - LEGO. In the summer of 2014 I was fortunate enough to be offered a work placement with Lego in Billund. I not only learned a lot as a designer from working with the Lego House team but also a different way of living that I am not familiar with in Newcastle which is extremely urbanised in comparison. I was living in Billund which is a small town in Denmark promoting itself as the Capital of Children which was founded by the Lego Foundation. The partnership promotes the development and growth of Billund as a city for play, creativity and learning. There are an abundant and variety of areas for children to play freely in Billund and it made me question why this could not be achieved here in the UK and why it is not offered?
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ABSTRACT. With 80% of children in the UK growing up in urban areas less and less are experiencing what lies beyond their doorstep. The news is bombarded with reports on childhood obesity, kids spending too long in front of screens, yet kids can’t play outdoors on the streets because they are too dangerous because of rat run drivers and concerns over ‘stranger danger’. The latest generation are having less exposure to risk and a chance to experience their own freedom and exploration than that of their parents and grandparents. Soon there will be a generation where playing on the residential streets is merely heard in stories. I want to ensure this does not happen and that children growing up in urban areas have the chance to play on their doorsteps safely.
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Exploration Interim
Exploration Deadline
CJ part 1 hand-in
Major Project Interim
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TIME PLAN. How my work fits into the double diamond structure. I had not considered the double diamond approach of tackling a project until it was highlighted in a CJ lecture. The double diamond is a simplified form of the design process originally used by the design council. On reflection I can see that having followed a similar pattern this has proved beneficial in my time management.
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PROPOSING A DIRECTION. Summarising my exploration intent based upon an area of interest. Getting a ‘green light’ from Neil to go ahead with the project direction. I had an uncertainty as to what my final outcome would be from this proposal but felt that there was plenty of scope and insights I could gain that would cement a valuable direction going into the major project. It was highlighted to me the importance of talking to people within the industry. What contacts can I make to add value and gain unique insights for my exploration?
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SECONDARY RESEARCH. Visualising facts and statistics found online in infographics to show the difference in play between children of today and when their parents were their age. Hard facts and figures found online made sure that any preconceived views on kids playing outdoors were not misguided. Spending time to present information more visually highlighted the problem in hand and was an effective way of introducing my topic. The findings showed that I needed to find out why there has been such rapid change in kids playing outdoors over the last 40 decades?
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PARENTS AND THE OUTDOORS 7 10
feel the pressures of time
& availability of green spaces
half think their children face greater risks than they did as kids
60% said there is now more for kids to do indoors than there was when they were growing up
1 in 7
do not feel fit enough to play with their kids outdoors
1/3 claim their fondest memories of
play were making up their own games when outdoors means playing with their kids outside is a rare treat
43%
of parents said that kids should not be allowed to play outside until
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yet the majority said that when they were kids they were allowed to play outside aged
40%
of parents never let their kids out to play
14 years
10
years or younger
54 %
of parents worry their child doesnt spend enough time outdoors
43% admit to relying on schools to ensure their kids go outside
64%
of kids today play outside less than once a week
43%
of kids will only play outside when it is sunny
1/3
17%
Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun
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KIDS AND THE OUTDOORS
will go out whatever the weather
would rather watch TV than play outdoors
How far an average 9 year old girl would be allowed to wander from their front door? 840m
280m
1970
1997
1 in 10
kids of today have not ridden a bike
42%
Today of kids between 5&16 have NEVER made a daisy chain
59%
want to play outside MORE More children are now admitted to british hospitals for injuries incurred falling out of their beds than out of trees
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Documentary on ITV
Facebook discussion
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DISCOURSE ANALYSIS. An analysis of the open social media discussion sparked by ITV’s documentary in August 2014, asked “Do you agree children have less freedom now?” This social media thread showed the common concerns among the general public about kids playing outdoors on the street. Recurrent themes could be classified into a hierarchy. Due to the sheer amount of comments it was too time consuming to take into account all comments. This proved to be a valuable exercise as it highlighted that the main challenge with this project is to convince parents that the residential street can be a place for their kids to play.
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FEAR FACTOR. Gathering evidence that challenges the belief of parents and the general public about the residential street. To highlight that their viewpoints are misguided. Scare mongering with real facts is not the way to challenge perceptions. I will have to come up with a solution that makes parents in particular reconsider the negative feelings they have towards allowing their kids to play on the street. How can I create less worry about stranger danger outdoors when it is in fact a bigger concern in their own family home!?
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50s 60s 70s 80s 90s 22
00s
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TOY TIMELINE. Mapping outdoor toys from the 1950s to present day to show that their has been little innovation in outdoor toys in the last decade. The majority of outdoors toys on the market at the turn of the century are remodeled versions of toy classics. Originally I felt this task strayed from my intent of looking into how to reclaim the residential street as playspace but it actually opened another possible avenue to explore which was expressed in my interim to follow. Do outdoor toys encourage outdoor play the same way as they did prior to technological toys of today?
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EXPLORATION INTERIM. Present initial findings and insights to two peer group tutors and 12 fellow students taking on board critique going into the Christmas break. The feedback I was given was complimentary and Neil Smith was particularly interested in my insight into how there has been limited innovation in outdoors toys specifically designed for the urban environment... Hence... should I be exploring two different directions?
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Dave O’leary suggested to space these few days out 26
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INTERIM - TIME PLAN. As part of the interim a time plan was proposed leading up to the exploration hand-in to keep on track of work over the Christmas holidays. In hindsight I was being over ambitious as to what I wished to achieve so ultimately had to prioritse and work out which of the objectives I had planned would be most beneficial.
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RETHINKING THE BRIEF. The interim highlighted the need to explore two different avenues. It was important to create two clear design directions that could be discussed and explored with validators over the Christmas break.
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REFLECTION. What went well I have learned that there is a stigma attached to the residential street as a place of danger as appose to a possibility of play. I therefore have to convince parents to feel comfortable that the residential street can be a safe environment for outdoor play.
What I would have changed I wish I’d had completed my dissertation prior to the Christmas break so I didn’t have to drop some of the objectives I had originally planned to do for exploration.
Moving forward Make sure to prioritise on tasks that will be most beneficial and insightful. Therefore be more disciplined on time management. Start to think about how to present my insights of exploration, maybe a jigsaw format?
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MARGOT WALSHE
IVAN HARPER
Vice Chair of Nancy Ovens Trust
Senior Play Worker at ‘The Yard’ Edinburgh
Wrote the ‘Play Directory’ for county schools
PENNY LOCHHEAD
MARGARET WESTWOOD
Leisure Director at PMR Leisure, Community and sports leisure consultancy
Secretary of the IPA Internaional Play Association
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Chair for IPA Scotland and Scotland’s Play Council
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NETWORKING. Establishing a dialogue with people from a variety of fields within the child’s play sector with the intention to meet in person. I communicated with the following people but only via email. I found that meeting people on a face to face basis was a far more valuable as you can have a more fluent and insightful dialogue.
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PARENT’S STREET WORKSHOP. Taking a typical residential street and asking both parents and kids to annotate what they see with regards to the street as a ‘play space’. There was a distinct difference in what adults and kids saw. Parents highlighted the risks and dangers where as kids pointed out features for potential play. This exercise emphasised that parents and adults are equally as important as target markets than just the kids themselves. This reiterated the importance of challenging adults ‘misguided’ feelings of the residential street as playspace.
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MARGARET WESTWOOD. Meeting with Margaret Westwood at Edinburgh City Council offices to show my insights and findings as well as gain information from Margaret’s expertise. There were two areas discussed that are particularly important to consider moving forward. 1) Designing spaces as ‘play gardens’ as appose to ‘play grounds’ 2) Managing risk in play provision using a risk benefit approach Margaret sent several links and documents as reference material which would have been helpful at the start of the project had I been in touch with her sooner.
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don’t be overly prescriptive in what play equipment is
give kids the freedom to play, avoid rule stipulation... facilitative play is most effective and favoured by kids.
Try not to romanticise what you have experienced as a child yourself
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THE YARD. A visit to Edinburgh’s ‘The Yard’ a purpose built indoor and outdoor adventure playground for children and young people with disabilities. Spoke to Ivan Harper about my project and what is important when it comes to children’s play. Ivan gave particularly insightful comments specifically to play equipment. He had a strong preference for loose elements and reclaimed materials such as wooden palettes and cable reels for play equipment and structures.
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IDEA GENERATION. Begin ideating based upon the insights and findings I had gained from various research methods. Create a spread of ideas that could ultimately then be sumarrised down into 3-5 possible proposals. I was able to collate my ideas into 4 possible directions that explored different avenues that could be developed. These 4 ideas proved to be a good finishing point to my exploration journey.
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EXPLORATION HAND-IN. Created a 30 piece floor jigsaw that documented the journey of my exploration project. I felt this was a successful hand-in as it stood out from a typical submission and reflected my project intent of teamwork, education, play and fun. I had also left enough time to create the jigsaw so was not under time pressure and as a result the quality of the jigsaw was not compromised.
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REFLECTION. What went well The jigsaw I had submitted successfully documented my journey throughout the exploration project and showed design decisions had been made.
What I would have changed I would have talked to collaborators earlier on in the design process as I felt some of the information I had gained speaking to people over the Christmas break would have been more beneficial nearer the beginning of my project.
Moving forward Need to evaluate the 4 concepts and decide which avenue should be taken forward to explore Rather than decide on one concept can elements from each proposal be brought together?
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MAJOR PROJECT INITIAL BRIEFS. Shaping briefs for the 4 design solutions proposed at the end of the exploration project. Rather than creating one brief I created four titles for each of the concepts I had generated. For each concept I also wrote an excerpt and created a pro/con list. This meant I could then send these to my collaborators where I’d hope to get some feedback prior to moving forward. Doing this exercise also highlighted the most valuable concept and one I personally was more keen to explore. “A Designated Parking Spot as Playspace”
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RE-CONNECTING WITH COLLABORATORS. Sending a summary of my exploration with design proposals to my collaborators asking for feedback. Getting feedback from my collaborators was a lot harder than intended with issues on file size and emails being found in spam. I would have preferred to have met with my collaborators in person once again but as they were all based in Edinburgh it was hard to organise a time that suited everyone.
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COLLABORATOR FEEDBACK. Received feedback from Margot Walshe after sending summary of exploration via email. A comment that was particularly valid was identifying a target market. I had shared my interest in pursuing the car parking space idea and Margot showed the same interest into this direction which validated my opinion to progress down this route. Do I develop my ideas based upon a specific age group or alternatively create a range of proposals for specific age brackets?
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PLANNING FOR MAJOR PROJECT - MINOR INTERIM. Meeting with Dave O’Leary prior to major project interim to clarify objectives of the interim and what should be shown. It was suggested that we come up with 3-5 ideas which is something I had done at the end of exploration and was worried that I was back tracking. However Dave assured me that I was not doing so and his post-it note sketch highlighted my ideas can fit over a scalability.
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chocolate fingers a when brainstorming!
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must
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BRAINSTORMING. Creating a range of ideas that explore spaces, activities and structures within a parking plot. Showed the wide possibilities that could be implemented into what seems to be a restricted space. Felt the ideas generated lacked creativity and imagination that kids may have if they were asked to do the same exercise. How could I get a better understanding for the size of a parking space?
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Initial concepts lacked imagination
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BODYSTORMING. To get more of an idea of the size of a parking space the dimensions of an average parking space was marked out in the studio. Studio furniture was used to highlight the sorts of spaces and structures that could be created. Getting creative with tables and chairs was much harder than I had anticipated. I struggled to create exciting spaces at first. However over time the structures I created became more exciting and showed the wide range of possibilities that could be created.
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complexity of structures increased and more imaginative
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SKETCHING OVER MODELS. Overlay sketching over photographs of the spaces and structures that were created previously in the studio. Made for more realistic and understandable play spaces. By doing this I could create more realistic playspaces that ultimately gave me three directions going into the interim.
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MAJOR PROJECT - MINOR INTERIM. Collating work carried out since the exploration submission into 3 possible directions to show to a panel of tutors and fellow students.
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You could make a great case around a particular season. That has a very powerful story, a story beyond just the parking bay.
- Howard Fenwick
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When you come to communicate this I think what will really help you is if you have a more specific context...I think it would help tell the story of it a lot better. - David Parkinson
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Film might be something you should consider...more powerful message if you can show people having this experience. - David Parkinson
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REFLECTION. What went well The work I produced summarised my exploration succinctly and provided stimulating and insightful comments from tutors.
What I would have changed Based upon the feedback I would have spent less time on creating three different concepts and given more thought into the implementation of how to go about reclaiming car parking spaces.
Moving forward Need to clarify whether the timescale and implementation of this proposal is a ‘summer installation’ or is available year around. Clarify the target market, deciding whether it is a community space or designed for a specific age range of children. Start thinking how I am going to explore this experience through prototyping and film as proposed by David Parkinson.
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RISE AND DESIGN EVENT. Attended a ‘Rise and Design’ event at the NDC on design for Children and Babies to network with people closer to Newcastle. 6 presentations covered a variety of topics from fashion, baby products and trend searching. There was an opportunity to network at the end of the presentations. I was at first hesitant as to how valuable the event would be as I was worried it was targeting the design for younger kids which was an age group I was less interested in. My initial perception however was wrong and I came away from the event with valuable contacts and assurance that the topic I am looking into is both relevant and favorable.
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JOANNA FEELEY. Making dialogue with managing director of Trend Bible, Joanna Feeley after her presentation on forecasting future trends at the ‘Rise and Design’ event. I had asked for the slides Joanna presented at the NDC but due to confidentiality she could not share them. She did however provide a statement on my project.
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Could this become an experimential display....could be placed in shopping centres during winter, thereby increasing footfall
- Ann English
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Client Services for Paul Windle Past experience in display design
T C JE O P PR O R EL JO V A DE M
PAUL WINDLE STUDIO. Visited creative art studio, Paul Windle to discuss my major project and to see the work that they do. I wasn’t entirely sure how beneficial meeting the team behind Paul Windle studio would be as my project doesn’t relate as well to the work they are involved in. However having said that the insights that they gave for my project were particularly thought provoking and widened my view of where my ‘play experience within a parking space’ could be implemented. They also offered to help in how to visualise my concept nearer the time.
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RESEARCH WITH KIDS. Asking kids to draw and talk about what they would like if they had a ‘parking space’ to play in on their street. Great insights as to what play experiences they wish. Would have been good to encourage model making as the children would have a greater understanding and appreciation of scale.
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When we played on our street we were called the Garage Club because we played where all the garages were. We like it there because we could play on the metal barriers. - Amelie, now 10
You live round the corner from Victoria Park...what is your favourite part of the park? The bushes!! Why is that?
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We like den making, so we get to make our own space and also the parents cant see what we are playing!
T C JE O P PR O R EL JO V A DE M
You both have phones and laptops yes? yes.... Why haven’t you drawn anything with screens or technology We didn’t really think about that...outdoors is about enjoying the outdoors, technology is for more inside - Aoife, now 13
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REFLECTION. What went well I’ve managed to grow my contacts list who are happy to validate and keep in contact throughout major project. Talking to kids themselves added real value and highlighted the excitement of having ‘on the door play spaces’.
What I would have changed Spent more time ideating around the actual activity within the car parking space and cementing the implementation of these play spaces.
Moving forward As an experience I need to ensure I do user testing, ideally with kids, by mocking up play experiences. In order to make this a convincing concept I am going to need to make a film so I must ensure I am on top of planning and time management.
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ELEVATOR PITCH & GOING FORWARD. A proposal going into the major project major interim and the main criteria the proposal shall meet. I still have time left to make minor amendments to this pitch prior to the interim as I have left time to print this document. I also want to use the week prior to the interim to create a refined time plan leading up to the May deadline.
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THANK-YOU FOR READING To find out how the project progressed and to see the design solution I created please see Critical Justification 2. Enjoy! Corey Hastings