Play & Pixie Dust
Queries/Drafts Due Date: September 2, 2025
Final Copy Due Date: October 3, 2025
Guest Editors: Michelle Tustin + Kyla Tulloch-Kowula
“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.”
– J.M. Barrie
When we think of play, it’s easy to default to thoughts of play for kids: playgrounds, sports, crafts, activities, the value of creativity and make-believe and movement. An entire industry is devoted to the dream of Neverland, of play structures and splash pads and athletic facilities inspiring exploration, movement, learning, imagination.
But what happens when we reach adulthood, when the “ticking crocodile” reaches us and our path to childishness is forgotten? Where does play fit, and where does play go? The value of play is infrequently quantified, prioritized, or even defined once children grow up. In a modern world defined by hustle-culture and the religion of technology, it may even make us question, “Is play important in adulthood?”
As landscape architects, we know that play, regardless of age, has purpose. Play may not be practical, but it can be a conduit for conversation, a means of reconnecting with our emotions, a source of happiness and joy, or a source of escape. It grounds us in the moment even while jumping on the wind’s back, inspiring us to be creative and keeping us mentally and physically active.
For this issue, we invite you to consider the following:
- How do we define play? Do we need to? Is there a benefit to ambiguity or defining play that has contributed to your work as a Landscape Architect?
- Does play take place in designated play areas, or do landscape architects seek to encourage play within everyday spaces? Have you been known to sprinkle components for play into your projects?
- Have you worked on a project where play was quantified or measured to validate the play components within a project? Did you use specific tools that other landscape architects could use to help their projects pan out when play requires valuation?
- How do communities re-connect through play? Have you witnessed or created a landscape that connects people through playful design, and in what ways?
- Do you have any principles or methods you follow to create places that welcome a sense of play? Are there any processes you consider essential to successfully integrating play?
- Have you been hooked by a project or site that inspired you to play? What components or feeling made you feel welcome to stop, engage, perhaps even cavort? Were you alone in this feeling, or did you find others reacted with a similar sense of adventure?
- Is there a timeframe by which you evaluate play? Is a playful design successful if one is lost in play, petering out after only a moment?
- How do winter cities successfully provide places of play in the coldest months?
- How do we encourage play for all ages? How do you encourage play for all ages?
Let’s think beyond the playground and outside the sandbox. Let’s be brave when thinking of others before one’s self and explore the movement from grey and serious spaces to sites that embrace vibrancy, whimsy, humour, joy, art, and sense of discovery. We invite you to critically examine aspects of play in landscape architecture: how we could introduce play, how we already do, and the successes of doing so.
PS. “If you haven’t yet today, “go play outside!” – Kyla and Michelle’s parents through ALL of their childhood.
Please send article ideas, abstracts, or drafts to the issue's Guest Editors:
Michelle Tustin, mtustin@crosbyhanna.ca
Kyla Tulloch-Kowula, ktulloch-kowula@scatliff.ca
Laurie Blake, Managing Editor: lp@csla-aapc.ca
General Guidelines for Contributors
We welcome a range of formats, including:
- Feature Articles: In-depth explorations of 1,200–1,500 words.
- Prologue Articles: Short reflections or provocations of 300–500 words.
- Case Studies: Examples of projects that integrate playful concepts.
- Interviews: Conversations with practitioners, policymakers or academics or those with something to contribute to the topic.
- Visual Content: Infographics, maps and other visuals that illustrate the topic.
- Illustrations: Supply 10-12, high-resolution images (300 dpi) for feature articles and 2-3 for shorter pieces, with captions and photo credits. Further photo guidelines available upon request.
Biography
- Please provide a brief bio (around 50 words), a photograph, your preferred email address and a mailing address (for complimentary copies). Our authors are the voice of LP, and our readers appreciate knowing where you are coming from. In your brief bio, please DO include a mention of your work or home base – but please keep the data brief. Instead, we invite you to use the space to tell us something about yourself, and your link to the story you are telling in the magazine, or to the issue’s theme.