Dream Play Build

James Rojas and John Kamp Dream Play Build

Hands-On Community Engagement for Enduring Spaces and Places

Shares a new approach to community engagement that brings art and creativity into discussions about urban design.

People love their communities and want them to become safer, healthier, more prosperous places. But the standard approach to public meetings somehow makes everyone miserable. Conversations that should be inspiring can become shouting matches. So what would it look like to facilitate truly meaningful discussions? What if they could be fun? For twenty years, James Rojas and John Kamp have been using art, creative expression, and storytelling to shake up the classic community meeting. In Dream Play Build, they share their insights into building common ground and inviting active participation among diverse groups. Their approach, “Place It!,” draws on three methods: the interactive model-building workshop, the pop-up, and site exploration using our senses. Inspirational and fun, this book celebrates the value of engaging with the dreams we have for our communities.

Architecture/Urban & Land Use Planning February 2022 Paperback: $25.00 978-1-64283-149-8 Ebook: $24.99 978-1-64283-150-4 200 pages. 6 x 9 Island Press Short

James Rojas is an urban planner, community activist, educator, and artist who runs the planning, model-building, and community-outreach practice Place It!. He is an international expert in public engagement and has traveled around the US, Mexico, Canada, Europe, and South America, facilitating over 500 workshops, and building 100+ interactive models. His research has appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Dwell, Places, and in numerous books.

John Kamp runs the landscape, urban design, and engagement practice Prairieform. He has developed innovative tools to engage people of all ages and backgrounds in both design and the natural world, with two decades of experience leading handson interactive workshops with James Rojas of Place It!. He frequently translates the findings and outcomes of those workshops into designs for inclusive and livable streets and neighborhoods that leave room for all residents to improvise and help create a more welcoming public realm.

Of related interest

Resilience for All Barbara Brown Wilson

Design as Democracy Edited by David de la Pena, Diane Jones Allen, Randolph T. Hester Jr., Jeffrey Hou, Laura J. Lawson, and Marcia J. McNally