Project Info
Project Description
Location: Ljubljana community Fužine, Ruski car and Savsko naselje
Date of performance: april – october 2018
Authors: Urška Kranjc, Gaja Trbižan
Contributors: Meta Petrič, Luka Vidic, Sara Čok, Damjana Zaviršek Hudnik, Sandra Banfi Škrbec
Photography: Luka Vidic
The project is co-financed by the City of Ljubljana, Department of Culture.
The metamorphosis of the play are a demonstration of the development of outdoor play in Ljubljana’s neighbourhoods, which in various ways illuminates the relationship between children and their local environment – the open space of neighbourhoods. The change in the open space of neighbourhoods and its use over time was investigated on three examples: Fužine, Ruski car and Savsko naselje. The selected neighbourhoods represent a balanced selection, as they are from different areas of the city, from different time periods (post-war housing construction, housing construction of the 70s and 80s of the 20th century) and different origins. Everything is distinguished by a large share of open public spaces, and at the same time the residents of these neighbourhoods have in recent years shown interest in actively participating in the care, arrangement and development of open spaces in the neighbourhood.
The project, through various media and in collaboration with users and various experts, presents the changes taking place in society and space in the last half of the century and reflects through the attitude of children (today and those who were children in the past) to open public space in the home environment. Special attention is paid not only to children’s playgrounds in residential neighborhoods, but also to the open space as a whole: sitting and socializing areas, sports grounds, courtyards, platforms in front of blocks, lawns, tree borders and hidden thickets, and other spaces that enable various ways of spending free time outside.
Current and former residents and users were invited to participate as important co-creators. We included different generations of residents who told about their memories and experiences “from the yard” and therefore shed light on the phenomenon and importance of play in everyday life. Written and oral testimonies of users complemented the thinking of experts – in the fields of planning, urbanism, architecture, landscape architecture and spatial sociology. We also walked through each of the neighbourhoods with a video camera. The testimonies of residents, experts and the place itself are designed as comprehensive video contributions and collected in a booklet.
