Critical Play!

Urban games have a long tradition as participatory and critical planning approaches. Surrealist and situationist artists, as well as urban activists, have articulated playful strategies to counter dominant spatial regimes and explore alternative forms of spatial appropriation. At the same time, games are closely intertwined with the development of digital and datafied urban planning: from mid-20th-century cybernetic games to playful ecological simulations to the infamous Pokémon Go.

The design studio appropriates digital games as research devices, experimental planning media, and performative artifacts. We will learn from historical urban games and discuss what perspectives on urban issues they open up. On this foundation, we will collaborate with the city of Neuburg an der Donau to develop participatory game concepts that are inspired by concrete urban contexts and planning issues. Using open-source computer game engines and creative coding, we will realize our game ideas and performatively enact them on-site.