MIT Department of Architecture
Computation Group Series, “The Rules of the Game”
Fall 2016
“Whilst play forms evolved in decisive ways since the nineteenth century, through the acquisition of rules these forms also disseminated worldwide instituting a de facto globalization avant la lettre. A second recognizable phenomenon in the domain of play was the novelty of its inscription in purpose-made arenas, allied to strenuous efforts placed in what we may term its domestication. Ludic space which can be conjured up anywhere, was thus shaped, framed and inscribed according to rational principles.
My enquiry is about the playground, about space released from productive ends in pursuit of festive plans. It is about settings and motivations that intensify the interplays and engagement with form, texture, and matter. It addresses issues such as the relations of play form with form making, how play is inscribed in cities, settings for play, and its interplay with ordinary life.”
Rodrigo Pérez de Arce, Architect, A.A. Grad. Dip. 1975, UCV Doctor in Architecture 2001. Pérez de Arce has taught at the Architectural Assocation, University of Bath, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell and Harvard GSD, among other universities. He presently teaches at the Catholic University Santiago. His topics of interest include the historical, landscape, and programmatic dimensions of public space. He has published on urban and landscape subjects, and is currently finishing a book on the architecture of play.
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