At Play: Architecture & Game is an exhibition about play and imagination, built experiences, and mythological narratives. It centers on the idea of "World-Making" and brings together two figures: the architect and the child. Children's games have always been a fertile ground for the invention of "Worlds." Likewise, architects also imagine new "Worlds." These worlds, and the mechanisms of invention upon which they depend, are the essence of the exhibition, which addresses themes as varied as childhood and education, urban planning, public space, history, architecture, art, and invention, with the goal of tracing the history of both imaginary "Worlds" and those that have been imagined.
Each of us is a playful architect. From the solitary hut to the cosmopolitan ark, we build worlds that we inhabit or cohabit. The world of play is situated in the mysterious interval that connects our subjectivities to external reality. Sometimes, architectures crystallize in ephemeral space, transforming for a time into the stage for our lives and the horizon of our habits. This power of imagination is at the heart of the exhibition, where the playgrounds of childhood and those of architects, artists, and designers meet.
The Lisbon iteration of At Play: Architecture & Game is organized by Garagem Sul / Centro Cultural de Belém in collaboration with CIVA, Brussels, and was curated by David Malaud, with co-curators André Tavares, Ivo Poças Martins, Nikolaus Hirsch, and Cédric Libert.
