Castle play set project

19.11.2021

I've recently been incredibly inspired by the Netflix documentary series 'Abstract: the art of design' and in particular, the Cas Holman episode in season 2.

In my practice as a production designer I've designed sets, props and costumes, and in my fine art practice have designed sculptures and other pieces with design elements, yet, I've never designed for a product as such, and other than for aesthetic value, my designs have never had a reason to exist. I think it's how Cas talked about her designs that intrigued me to watch the episode seven times in full and a few more to take notes, it's things she said like this that caught my imagination;

"When I design toys I want children to create from their imaginations rather than following instructions. If I were to give kids a set of parts and tell them to build a car, there would be a right and wrong answer, they already have an understanding architype of what a car is - it's a finished idea. On the other hand, if I give them the bits and pieces and say 'build a way to get to school' then there's room for many idea's, then they could make a side walk, or a rocket launcher, or a bird saddle. My work as a designer is to give then these tools so that they are free to imagine, explore ideas and invent new things" - Cas Holman

This quote has been a starting point for this whole module, leading into every part of my research since..

There's something about the creativity, playfulness and the absolute drive and passion behind her practice that inspired me when my daughter asked for a pink castle for Christmas..

The ideas presented in this documentary lead me down a path of researching creativity in children, and the importance of creative play and how it reflects into adulthood.

In this sense Cas is designing for the future.

So I took all this influence and thought I'd make a castle for my daughter rather than buy her a cheap flimsy plastic one that, really when you think about it, only has one function - to be a castle, there's no other play that can be achieved, like a dolls house is a dolls house, a fire station play set is a fire station play set, now yes, the more imaginative the child, the more these play sets become other things, a dolls house can become a doctors surgery as a castle can become a workshop for larger figures, but at the end of that day, no matter the size of the figures, whether their

Peppa pig, Action man, Barbie, Teletubbies, the play ultimately is the same.

What I was wondering was if there's anything else you can do to design a castle that inspires creativity in a child, that can still be a functioning castle that can be played in with figures, but the play changes to be more creative?

I started with the typical image of a castle, the four walls, the battlements, a door way. I realised that this is the issue with creating something that already exists, like Holman explained, it's something that is imprinted in our heads, and moving away from that idea will take a bit of re-thinking.

I started with these building block shapes, with the thinking that the castle could be built rather than just given to the child in full. Then thought maybe the castle should have no instructions, and can be built different every time.

Maybe these holes could play a prominent feature, using dowels as a tool to place things in different places. I had this feeling that it looked quite immature, I'm designing for a four year old here after all, she enjoys playing with the coloured blocks and things like that, but I think were after something a bit more sophisticated here. It got me thinking of an old story from my childhood..

I took this idea of a build your own castle, where you get given all the bits to build a castle, but you can build something new and original each time.

I felt like I was getting somewhere, but at it's core, it's still a castle with four walls..

That was still my go-to even though I had these different parts to put in different places.

I'm looking for total customisation I suppose.. Something more abstract.

I thought maybe these walkway planks were a step in the right direction, being able to place them anywhere, heading away from that typical idea of a castle.

Detachable roofs, detachable battlements, the stairs were movable, and the walls and towers can be as tall or a short as you like.

I tried filling in details on two of the tower designs and I liked the different styles, one more rugged and the other smoother, as if they're from two separate castles.

It reminded me of something I'd seen in the past.. (continued)