{"product_id":"urban-play-isbn-9780262045346","title":"Urban Play","description":"\u003cb\u003eWhy technology is most transformative when it is playful, and innovative spatial design happens only when designers are both tinkerers and dreamers.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eUrban Play\u003c\/i\u003e, Fábio Duarte and Ricardo Álvarez argue that the merely functional aspects of technology may undermine its transformative power. Technology is powerful not when it becomes optimally functional, but while it is still playful and open to experimentation. It is through play--in the sense of acting for one's own enjoyment rather than to achieve a goal--that we explore new territories, create new devices and languages, and transform ourselves. Only then can innovative spatial design create resonant spaces that go beyond functionalism to evoke an emotional response in those who use them. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe authors show how creativity emerges in moments of instability, when a new technology overthrows an established one, or when internal factors change a technology until it becomes a different technology. Exploring the role of fantasy in design, they examine Disney World and its outsize influence on design and on forms of social interaction beyond the entertainment world. They also consider Las Vegas and Dubai, desert cities that combine technology with fantasies of pleasure and wealth. Video games and interactive media, they show, infuse the design process with interactivity and participatory dynamics, leaving spaces open to variations depending on the users' behavior. Throughout, they pinpoint the critical moments when technology plays a key role in reshaping how we design and experience spaces.1. Orchestrating Serendipity\u003cbr\u003e2. Embodying Fantasies\u003cbr\u003e3. Tinkering with Spatialities\u003cbr\u003e4. Artifices of Self-Deception\u003cbr\u003e5. Learning from Video Games\u003cbr\u003e6. Virtual Reality, Empathy, and Design\u003cbr\u003e7. Learning to Play“Duarte and Álvarez provide a guidebook for getting us and our cities out of our regimented rut and a manifesto for building better cities and a better way of life through active, social play.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003eRichard Florida, author of \u003ci\u003eRise of the Creative Class\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Duarte and Álvarez explain how playfulness is shaping the electronic technologies that are transforming the way we design and experience urban space. Their book will do for play and technology what \u003ci\u003eHomo Ludens\u003c\/i\u003e did for play and culture.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003eRichard E. Hanley, Editor, \u003ci\u003eJournal of Urban Technology\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“From Dubai to Disneyworld, from Las Vegas to \u003ci\u003eSimCity\u003c\/i\u003e, Duarte and Álvarez paint a picture of the way we can explore technology in our architecture using the power of play. This is an important book about the prospects for design in the digital age.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003eMichael Batty, CASA, University College London\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWinner of the Outstanding Academic Title Award, Choice, 2022.\u003c\/b\u003eFábio Duarte is Principal Research Scientist at the MIT Senseable City Lab, Lecturer in MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning, and Professor at PUCPR, Brazil. Ricardo Álvarez is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the MIT Senseable City Lab.","brand":"The MIT Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304142590181,"sku":"NP9780262045346","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780262045346.jpg?v=1767743332","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/urban-play-isbn-9780262045346","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}