Play Summit was a three-day event with artist Nils Norman and art and architecture collective Assemble, which considered the state of
play in Scotland and beyond. There were free talks, with a keynote from Tim Gill, workshops and discussions, and a symposium which brought together leading thinkers and practitioners working in play from around the world, along with play ventures from across Scotland.

This ran alongside free outdoor play on Glasgow Green by Baltic Street Adventure Playground, a project built in Dalmarnock by Assemble. Together with PEEK and Playbusters, they invited families and children of all ages to come
and play, build, enjoy a campfire and explore.

Nils Norman is an artist who works across the disciplines of public art, architecture and urban planning. His projects challenge notions of the function of public art and the efficacy of mainstream urban planning and large-scale regeneration. An ongoing area of research within Nils’ practice is The Adventure Playground and Playscape Archive, a survey of Adventure Playgrounds undertaken by Nils since 2002, which has seen iterations as a sculptural installation and publication. He is a Professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Art and Design, Copenhagen, Denmark, where he leads the School of Walls and Space.

Assemble are a collective based in London who work across the fields of art, architecture and design. They began working together in 2010 and are comprised of 18 members. Assemble’s working practice seeks to address the typical disconnection between the public and the process by which places are made. Assemble champion a working practice that is interdependent and collaborative, seeking to actively involve the public as both participant and collaborator in the on-going realization of the work.

Baltic Street Adventure Playground is a new adventure playground at 427 Baltic Street in Dalmarnock, east Glasgow. Kick-started by a Velocity Public Art Commission in Spring 2013 awarded to art and architecture practice Assemble, and produced by Create London, the project has been developed in partnership with Dalmarnock People’s Trust and construction training centre First Steps Future Skills, with the support of countless other individuals and local organisations.

Download the full weekend programme here

Download the full symposium programme here

Watch selected videos from the symposium here

All Sided Games set out to find new ways to work with families in their locality, seeking out areas of mutual interest by thinking and acting through the production and presentation of art. Six commissions by Jacob Dahlgren, Mitch Miller, Cristina Lucas, Nils Norman and Assemble, Florrie James and Dennis McNulty brought artists, individuals and groups together in and around venues built or used for the Edinburgh 1970 and 1986 Commonwealth Games and the Glasgow 2014 Games. The project also explored and expanded on ideas of the local through How Near is Here? a symposium and intensive programme.