A Playground for Non-Humans

Stop making architecture for humans, for a second
Imagine our cities without non-humans
Or one without humans
And think of a less than human-city and ponder
Has it ever really been about humans?

Last autumn, an interactive display of architectural installations designed for dogs toured some of London’s most popular public spaces and dog-walking sites. Running concurrently with the Architecture for Dogs exhibition at Japan House London, this roadshow encompassed contributions by architects and designers including Kengo Kuma and Kenya Hara. Inspired by the Architecture for Dogs Roadshow, a series of pieces were specially commissioned by the AA through an open call, challenging the wider architectural community to design new forms of Architecture for Non-Humans.

These two sets of exhibits – Japan House London’s Architecture for Dogs Roadshow and the AA’s Architecture for Non-Humans – form A Playground for Non-Humans outdoors at the corner of Bedford Square. The exhibition showcases a selection of thought-provoking ideas that draw attention to the importance of non-human inhabitation, in its various and diverse forms, throughout the city environment; the chosen exhibits include proposals catering to squirrels, rats and worms. By shifting focus away from a human-centric perspective through a series of playful concepts and inspiring visions, its aim is to encourage care and empathy towards our non-human neighbours, triggering conversations surrounding alternative models of urban living that embrace the challenges of today.

Curated by Shin Egashira to run concurrently with the Architecture for Dogs Roadshow, the exhibition briefly opened in November 2020 before a nationwide lockdown forced its closure. Following the recent easing of Covid-19 restrictions, A Playground for Non-Humans will now return to Bedford Square for more members of the public – human and non-human – to enjoy.

Six entries were shortlisted from the AA Open Call, with the winner and runners-up selected by architect Toyo Ito together with the shortlisting committee:

Climb the Note – Camille Bongard, Matis Barollier and César Jucker – WINNER

The Playground in the Sewer – Daniel Vladimir John Hambly – Runner-Up

Worm-scape – Zineb Lemseffer and Alix Biehler – Runner-Up

Pe(t)riscope – Muhammad Iqbal Tawakal – Runner-Up

Parrot City – Hantao Li and Zhifei Liang

Eel Murmur – Mia Aleksic, Nicholas Lin and Elina Zampetakis

Social distancing guidelines for visiting the exhibition in Bedford Square:

Dogs and other animals are welcome to interact with the exhibits. Please follow government guidance on social distancing and note the following rules to ensure everyone’s safe enjoyment of the interactive display:

• Please avoid visiting the display if you have had any symptoms of Covid-19 in the last 14 days.
• Visitors must wear a face covering when accessing the display area, unless they are exempt.
• Government guidelines on social distancing must be followed at all times. Please keep a minimum 2-metre distance between yourself and other guests and members of staff.
• Only one dog at a time can interact with each display item. Other visitors will be asked to wait in the socially-distanced queuing area.
• All dogs must remain on a lead and be kept under control at all times when using and waiting to use the displays. Owners will be asked to move their dog away from the display area if other visitors (humans or dogs) are disturbed by it.
• Visitors are responsible for clearing up after their dogs.

A livestream will be set up to allow viewers from further afield to experience the exhibition from different perspectives.

Photo: Yoda Hiroshi

The exhibition in Bedford Square and the competition were made possible thanks to the generous support of Maeda Corporation, Japan.