Play in the Everyday: Infrastructures of Care for the Childless City

Abstract

This thesis mobilizes theories of play and care as methods of reimagining the childless city. Everyday existing elements in South Parkdale, Toronto (a streetcar, a brick wall, and an adjacent parking lot) are reimagined as an interconnected infrastructure of play and care. The streetcar is transformed from a mode of transportation into a community hub that provides access to basic health, education, and food services. An existing brick wall, the façade of an old car factory, is disassembled in parts and designed as a playful threshold. An existing parking lot becomes a network of social pavilions: a community kitchen and gardens, pedestrian and bike pathways, a childcare lookout tower, an outdoor classroom, and a pedestrianized street allowing for play. Along with unruly play, a design agenda that includes observation, discovery, and care contributes to social equity, publicly accessible amenities, and an emphasis on the routes of everyday life.