Museum of Play/ ŞÜHEDA ZEYNEP ÜNALMIŞ

 Museum of Play explores play not as a childlike or recreational activity, but as a fundamental spatial and social practice embedded in everyday urban life. Drawing on Johan Huizinga’s concept of play as a cultural act that suspends seriousness, the project positions play as a way of thinking, moving, and engaging with the city rather than a curated object to be displayed. Located in Beşiktaş—an area defined by constant movement, spontaneity, and overlapping urban rhythms—the museum emerges as an active interior that extends and intensifies the city’s existing dynamics. 

The ground floor is conceived as a continuation of the street rather than a conventional museum entrance. By  

 

blurring the boundary between inside and outside, it allows everyday movement, informal encounters, and analog street games to occur naturally within the building. This level operates as an urban threshold where the city flows into architecture, transforming routine circulation into playful interaction. 

At the core of the project, a vertical slide functions as the main spatial spine. Rather than serving as a mere attraction, the slide organizes the building both conceptually and physically, offering an alternative mode of circulation based on bodily movement and experiential engagement. Ramps, platforms, and visual connections are arranged around this spine, reinforcing the idea of play as an embodied and continuous experience. 

Upper floors host a variety of play environments, including board and  

 

strategy games, immersive and performative spaces, digital and interactive play zones, and collective workshops. These platforms are designed as independent yet interconnected spatial experiences, supporting different forms of play while encouraging interaction across ages and user groups. 

Ultimately, Museum of Play redefines the museum as a living urban interior—one that does not isolate play from daily life, but integrates it into the spatial, social, and cultural fabric of the city.