Design Tools for Play

Design Tools for Play: Playful Intervention – Embracing Homo Ludens

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" – Discover the importance of having the right tools for play like a good chess set or a good deck of cards and go on designing one!

Design can communicate the consequences of human intervention as well as make meaning out of human intent. The porous boundaries of the creative disciplines have already made a stew of interdisciplinary collaborative activity in our society.

What do we play and why?

Games are with us from the day we are born. We learn through games and play to understand the world and make sense of it. During this workshop, the individual students will learn to formulate their own design concept within the broader topic of homo ludens: playful intervention. The group of international students, both online and in Weimar, will design their own games. In the first few days, we will introduce you to the history of games and show you examples and varieties of popular and iconic games followed by a design thinking workshop to get the ideas flowing. We will understand the importance of having the right tools like a good chess set, a good deck of cards, or even a handmade soccer ball and/or better yet, a "One World Futbol"... Then you will have time to develop your game and build it. The students will learn methods for changing human behaviour and social interaction through playful intervention and game strategies.

This course is open for students and professionals. You should:

  • be able to draw
  • have knowledge about materials and their processing
  • sharpen your senses and approach the subject with an open mind
  • question and surpass what is known
  • be willing to work hard

You will challenge the world of games and create your own interpretation of your insight.

Prof. Matthew Burger

- Designer and Educator
- Currently working with the department of Architecture at OTH University of Applied Sciences Regensburg, Bavaria
- Academic Degrees in the areas of Industrial Design from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York and Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst, Basel, Switzerland

Sven Brandelius

- Architect
- Broad work experience in the fields of Social Design and Architecture in Germany, the United States and Brazil

 

The course took place in 2023.

Language

The course language is English.