Forelesning
Critical Spatial Practice IX: Nils Norman
Nils Norman explores the history and ideas of the adventure playground movement in Europe and Japan and how playgrounds can be seen as potential alternative models for urban planning and public space.
"From bomb site to boutique: The playground and its journey from anarchy to economic development tool"
Nils Norman will talk about his ongoing research into Adventure Playgrounds and some of the more unusual and interesting playscapes found across Europe, Japan and the US that he has visited and photographed. He explores the history and ideas of the adventure playground movement in Europe and Japan and how certain playspaces, like adventure playgrounds and the playgrounds of the Dutch city planner Aldo van Eyke can be seen as potential alternative models for urban planning and the production of public space. He will touch upon a brief moment in the 1950s when artists and architects were involved in innovative playground design and why this quickly fell out of fashion as fear of litigation and health and safety stifled creative collaborations. Making way for the "fixed play" risk-free playscapes of contemporary urban centres. Nils will discuss how this trend is changing as more artists and designers take on urban play projects as some cities take on Play as an inclusive “Place Making” strategy.
Nils Norman is an artist living in London, who works across the disciplines of public art, architecture, urban planning and design. Informed by local politics and ideas on alternative economic, ecological systems and play, Norman’s work merges utopian alternatives with current urban design to create a humorous critique of the discrete histories and functions of public art and urban planning. He has completed major public art projects including pedestrian bridges, playgrounds and landscaping projects and has participated in various biennials worldwide and has developed commissions for SculptureCenter, Long Island City, NY; London Underground, UK; Tate Modern, UK; Creative Time, NYC and the Centre d’ Art Contemporain, Geneva, Switzerland.
He is the author of five publications: Propuestas Para Una Plaza. Proposals For A Plaza. Eds Fritz Haeg, Kit Hammonds and Nils Norman. Museo Jumex, Mexico City, Mexico. 2018; Edible Park, Nils Norman. Eds. Taco de Neef, Nils Norman, Peter de Rooden, Astrid Vorstermans. Valiz, NL. 2012;Thurrock 2015,General Public Agency, London, UK, 2004; An Architecture of Play: A Survey of London’s Adventure Playgrounds, Four Corners, London, UK, 2004; The Contemporary Picturesque, Book Works, London, UK, 2000.
From 2007-2017 Nils Norman was Professor at the the Royal Danish Academy of Art and Design, Copenhagen, Denmark, where he led the School of Walls and Space.
Critical Spatial Practice is organized by MFA Art and Public Space (MAPS). The event is free and open to the general public.