‘Take up the dolphin’s challenge to leap together, chase a shy rabbit down the pavement or skip with a cheeky kangaroo. Lurking behind city walls and hiding in dark corners, Urbanimals are eager to brighten the day.’
Urbanimals, an interactive public artwork inviting people to play with animated creatures projected onto little-used corners of Bristol, has been announced winner of the Playable City Award 2015.
Proposed by LAX Laboratory for Architectural Experiments, a design practice described as operating ‘at the edge of architecture’, Urbanimals will invite members of the public to ‘play’ with the animated creatures as a means to both highlight some of the city’s hidden treasures and to inspire people to consider their environment in new and unexpected ways.
Speaking about the project, LAX said: “Bringing people together through play in forgotten areas of the city lies at the heart of what we do. With Urbanimals we want to stimulate [people’s] senses and inject a sense of excitement and wonder into the everyday urban landscape.”
Playful response
Clare Reddington, executive producer of the award, said: “We love the combination of imagination and sophistication that the idea offers and were impressed with LAX’s ambitious and playful response to the playable city theme.”
Playable City is a £30,000 award supported by Bristol-based film and digital media centre Watershed. The award challenges artists and creatives from around the world to produce a future-facing public artwork using creative technology that puts people and play at the heart of the city.
The winning project was selected from 197 applications received from 60 countries around the world by a judging panel that included: Miguel Sicart, author; Richard Roberts, Jason Bruges Studio; Claire Doherty, director of Situations; Tim Brookes, Future Cities Catapult; Clare Reddington, Playable City Award (chair).
Urbanimals will be unveiled in Bristol in September 2015.
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