How Play Forms Joyful Threads That Link Us To Great Places [Barcelona]

When walking down Las Ramblas, I remember feeling joy spreading infectiously inside of me through the gentle motion of laughter, music, dance, color, and texture along the promenade. After recently reading Play by Stuart Brown MD, I realized that what I experienced was a visceral thrill that is fundamental for us as human beings when we witness or feel the joy of play. According to Brown, play is the spirit of joy in physical form. Our moments of intense, pleasurable memories form joyful threads that link us to great places.

In Barcelona, Las Ramblas has a city-wide gravitational pull enticing people who want to go see other people and be seen, walk up and down, and meet their friends. As the center of public life, it is exciting, energetic, vibrant and playful. The promenade functions as a communal gathering place and organizing spine bisecting the Gothic Quarter from the Plaza Catalunya down to the Columbus Statue at the port. The gently curving route between the plane trees and the buildings on each side reveal the shape of the old watercourse that once inhabited the area. The promenade enables the ability for people to stroll in the evening through the most active parts of the community. Las Rambles is divided into three segments, each enhanced by historic buildings and places, such as La Boqueria and the Plaza Real. Its pedestrian vantage point at the center of the street, surprise inducing asymmetry and irregularity in plan and section, wide pedestrian paths, lush plane trees, pocket playgrounds for children, stalls that sell birds and flowers, walls to lean against, stairs and benches for sitting, and open street fronts with activities, goods and umbrella-covered outdoor cafes, support a lively pedestrian environment and density encouraging people to set the pace, stay and linger.

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Experiments have shown that whenever there is a possibility for this level of public contact, people will seek it. In A Pattern Language, we find that within public spaces where people are drawn together the area should enable a high enough pedestrian density for the place to feel alive, as opposed to half dead or dead. Through observation, the recommended area is 150 to 300 square feet per person. In The Art of Gathering, we find that event planners and interior space designers also understand that the number of square feet per guest results in sophisticated, lively or hot party vibes. In fact, party guests often gravitate toward the kitchen toward the end of a party because people instinctively seek out smaller spaces as the group dwindles in order to sustain the level of human density.

Las Ramblas is framed by five-to-seven-story buildings. Its negative space and greenery, as well as natural textures, materials, scents, and sounds, help soften and ease the order of the manmade built environment. Just as balance and rhythm create a joyful harmony in our cities, short, frequent doses of play energizes our lives. Play acts as a catalyst that allows us to engage more fully with the world around us. Through free play, we feel a shift in perspective out of our daily concerns to a state of creativity. This opens us up to new possibilities and is at the core of our happiness, social relationships, imagination and innovation. Joy and play are not a constant state, it is intended that they ebb and flow over time.

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Our drive for play is one of our most natural and effortless sources of joy. As children, the world of magic blends seamlessly with the real world. As we get older, we are taught that play and magic are frivolous and we feel pressure to leave them behind. We should build places that are irregular, safe, and comfortable enough for people to dance and play in the street! The ability to play freely is a genuine expression of our unique self and society. Living and designing for a life of play does not mean bypassing things that are hard. Sometimes, pain is bliss. We have to make it past difficulty to find the wonders our built environment has to offer.