City as a play and learning laboratory: The case of Bursa

In our age, it has been observed that designers, especially architects, cannot totally explore the wide opportunities inherent in play practices and participatory design. It is necessary to realize this discovery both as a tool for architects to expand and grow their own creative capacities and as a critique of defined learning experience and architectural education. In the framework of this problem, the thesis research deals with architectural pedagogy in a play-driven way. By interpreting the play as a strong methodology, the thesis includes children in the play and learning process by participatory design practices with the desire to implement new, meaningful and creative play strategies. In this process, play is not meaningless but productive, but also a way of learning to exist in the world with the way we see our surroundings and understand ourselves. Within the scope of the thesis, a series of play exercises were designed for the playable city infrastructure. Different narrative forms and mindsets of architecture are included in the play exercises process to rethink and design the play. "Play" environments as we know them today are standardized and generic, similarly our design and learning processes are isolated. The potentials of external communities to open up new possibilities are ignored by designers. For a new and participatory proposal, space disciplines should consider the play not only as a subject but as a method, working style and design research. From architectural pedagogy, the play offers new ways to explore and understand the world. This thesis focuses on participatory design practices, process andoutputs as a new form of play. In the research, play-based participatory design methodologies were tested in a series of play exercises with the participation of children in Bursa. In the exercises performed with children in certain time periods, children are included in different stages of the play and learning process. The exercises include various forms of architectural reading and expression, as well as revealing forms of creative play that value children's embodied and experiential knowledge.