Playspace: New narratives for public space

Playspace: New narratives for public space is a fun, hands-on street workshop with children as protagonists, questioning the nature of public space, explored through the eyes and voices of the young.

While we continue to sacrifice our precious public space for vehicles, we forget that those unable to drive, particularly children, suffer the consequences of car domination most acutely. The absence of a safe pedestrian and bicycle environment in residential areas has a specific impact on the wellbeing of children, both on their physical health and on their independence. International studies underscore the critical importance of making environmental quality for people the focus of street design, if public space is to be a place for children to flourish and to engage with the world.

The workshop will be based on a game and make use of architectural props and stories to prompt children to question the nature of the private and public spaces they inhabit. It will engage children to play in public space, to ask themselves what public space can be, and what it can lend itself to, and to use their imagination to create new and fantastical scenarios for the realm of tarmac.

WHEN: Sunday 21 October, 9.30am – 12.30pm
WHERE: Pjazza San Nikola, Siggiewi
HOW: Participation is free, however registration is essential as numbers are limited. To book your place contact: Nicole Bearman on [email protected] by Saturday 20th October, 5pm.

Notes: Age group is 7-12 years, but will also include alternative activities suitable for younger children.

“Playspace: New narratives for public space” is part of Design4DCity, a Valletta 2018 initiative led by the Valletta Design Cluster and the Meeting Points Strand. Design4DCity engages with community actors ranging from individual residents, band clubs, sports organisations, civil society groups to local councils and other public authorities. It focuses on areas of intervention where public space, community interaction and social issues intersect. In doing so, it looks at the diverse ways we use public space and take common ownership of it through micro-interventions and seasonal activities.

“Playspace: New narratives for public space” is a Valletta 2018 and a Valletta Design Cluster event, developed and delivered by Valletta-based creative studios We Live Here and AP Valletta, in consultation with Invisible Playground (Berlin), Siggiewi Local Council and Council for Kids.