Interface Studio: Play Matters for Children in Distress

Studio leader: Dr Anika van Aswegen

Collaborators: The Centre for the Study of Resilience, Terre des Hommes (Help for Children in Need) and York Timber Chair 

Children finding themselves in environments of distress experience the effects of socio-spatial injustices that negatively influence their development on multiple levels. The Masidlale Study (2023) shows that family instability, poor health, lack of social support, household or community violence and loss of child protection predict poor child development outcomes. Furthermore, policy and literature do not report on the value of play-based interventions to support positive outcomes for children. How can this play emergency be addressed? The Interface Studio considers the physical environment as a play catalyst towards active development. The project aims to propose low threshold interventions for intentional daily play to trigger imagination and provide an essential infrastructure for discovery to support children to flourish. Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) Ecological Systems Theory, the Capability Approach, spatial agency and epistemic diversity / multiple intelligences provide a theoretical grounding. A transdisciplinary collaboration with the Centre for the Study of Resilience, Terre des Hommes and the York Timber Chair, considers a series of interactions to derive design informants.  Generic, static and predictable play spaces do not represent the multi-layered and dynamic microcosm of the world in which children are expected to develop. The status quo is challenged by proposing progressive human-environmental interfaces for meaningful play. A multi-scalar and deployable design approach is followed, able to respond to different contextual needs. The work contributes to the current discourse on a Right to Play, by incorporating sensorial integration and social inclusion – where differences do not matter.