Idea Bombing Melbourne #1: Playful City

Idea Bombing Melbourne #1: Playful City

The inaugural Idea Bombing Melbourne event Playful City at Melbourne's ArtPlay, to take place on Friday, 8 May 2015, features residents as well as four experts who are actively involved in making Melbourne a more playful city - amongst them GEElab director, Dr Steffen P Walz.

Idea Bombing Melbourne will call upon these four experts as well as the residents, an engaged, mischievious and creative bunch. The four speakers will explore the social, cultural, physical and technology-driven elements that unite us through play, imagining a future where our children learn through games, our places of work and study are spaces that we gravitate towards, and also delve into the potential of play to make our community more connected. 

Then once the speakers got the lowdown, it's up to the audience, to ‘bomb’ their ideas on the Idea Wall with great tunes and drinks to hand. Guiding questions include:
 
How can we make Melbourne a more playful city?
 
How do we foster more playful attitudes in our daily lives?
 
What can we do to embrace playfulness at work, at home, on the streets and with one-another?
 

About the Speakers

Simon Spain, Team Leader, ArtPlay and Signal

Simon is a strong believer in the transformative power of art for adults and children alike. He's clocked up 30 years running engaging programs for children and families, 10 years of which has been spent nurturing ArtPlay as a hub for parents and children to practice art with professional artists, engaging kids through interactive exhibitions and outdoor adventures. By giving children the raw ingredients to make their own creations and pairing them up professional artists, ArtPlay creates an environment where children can harness the power of play to access their imagination and create original works of art from their own ideas. 
 

James Wilson, Lyons Architects

A Principal of Lyons Architects since 2008, James has been involved in a number of innovative, architectural design projects, including RMIT's iconic Swanston Academic Building and most recently, NeW Space at the U. of Newcastle. He was part of Future Focus Group that launched White Night Melbourne. His work incorporates many unique and playful features, specifically designed to enhance student learning while complimenting the city surrounds.
 

Devon Taylor, Women's Circus

As Executive Director of the Women's Circus, Devon is well placed to talk to the value of play a means to improve health, happiness and a sense of well-being. The Womens Circus offers a year round circus and performance training program, producing socially engaged arts projects for women and their communities. Their training and creative programs celebrate the physical and imaginative potential of the human body, nurturing self-awareness and self-esteem.
 

Dr Steffen P Walz, Associate Professor & Director of the GEElab, RMIT University

Steffen is the Founder-Director of the Games & Experimental Entertainment Laboratory - a creative think tank focusing on the future of games & entertainment. They conduct applied, critical research at the intersection of game design and game thinking across architecture and urbanism, mobility, media and entrepreneurship, as well as in business and educational contexts. By exploring the ways that games and everyday life can co-exist, they imagine how play, games, and game mechanics can be used to advance our lives.
 

About the venue: ArtPlay

ArtPlay is Australia's only art centre for children; a safe space for parents and children to work with professional artists. It is located in Birrarung Marr, behind Federation Square, next to the (fabulous!) ArtPlay playground. Over its 10-year history, ArtPlay have had 1000 artists working with over 100,000 children and families.
 

About Idea Bombing Melbourne

Idea Bombing gives us the opportunity to stop, listen and think. Part meet-up, part talk series, part community brainstorm, it's a new way to engage, surface ideas and promote ways of turning those ideas into reality. Idea Bombing Melbourne focuses on untapping that creative spark in everyone, in a fun and social way.