YAA Projects designs architecture in dialogue and response to place, identity, climate, material and history.
A World of Play reimagines play as a transformative gateway to other worlds, inspired by a workshop with children that explored storytelling, drawing, and making. The design uses simple, archetypal forms to create a landscape of playable spaces, objects, and figures.
Extending the gallery’s interior into the garden and street, the existing gallery façade and boundary wall form an outdoor ‘room’ connected by an existing path. Inside this space, plinths, walls, and frames represent expressions of play. A circular wall, inspired by the historical brick boundary along College Road, is reinterpreted as a playful structure for sitting, climbing, and walking, dividing the space into smaller ‘rooms.’ To the north, lightweight structures serve as portals of imagination, connecting the outdoor space to the gallery’s interior. To the south, a sound stage invites play and gathering, recalling the sounds of South London’s diasporic communities.
A World of Play celebrates Dulwich Picture Gallery’s legacy by integrating play into its public realm, offering a new entrance and engaging visitors with both art and the surrounding context.
Shortlisted Competition Entry for Reimagining Play at Dulwich Picture Gallery
in collobration with Eleanor Dodman Architects & 27Beginnings