Crealivhy is (or Ih@ gHI@d (@w: Ih@ r@sl o( m ;Ire

compelled to live in environmenb constructed by the gihed

few, nuon 10 tho sifted faw', music, use gifted few' s inven-
lion!! and an, and read Ihe pO@ms, fanl asi es and plays by
the lifted few.
Thlc Is whal our education and culture conditions
10 believe, and Ihls is a cuhurally induced and perpelu:'Hed
lie.
Building upon this lie, the dominant cultural elite
lell us Ihat Ihe planning, design and bUil ding of ;my pari of
the environment is so difficult and so special that only Ihe
giflad few-those with degrees and certificates in pl anning,
engineering, archileclUre, art, educalion, behavioral psycholo-
gy. and so on-can properly solve environmenlal
HowNOT
toCheat
Children
TheTheo y
of Loose
Part
By Simon Nicholson
Th" r",uh i, Ih:1I Ihe vaCl majorllY of people
nOI allowed (and wone-(eel Ihal Ih@y are incompel@nI)
experiment with the components of building and
whelher In environmental cludies, Ihe abstract arts, I
or science : Ihe crealivhY-lhe playing around wilh Ih@
ponents and variables of the world in ordcr to make
menls and discover new things and form new
been explicilly Slated as Ihe domain o( the creative (ew.
the rest of the community has been deprived of a crucial
of their lives and life-slyle. This is particularly true of yo
children who (ind the world incredibly restricted-a
where they cannot play with building and making th
or play wilh fluids, waler, fire or living objects, and all
thaI sallsfy one's curioshy and give us Ihe pleas
that results from discovery and invention: experiments
alternatives. such as People's Park, Berkeley, have
crushed or quashed by public aUlhorilies.
The simple facts are these:
1. There is no eVidence, except in special cases
mental disability, Ihat some young babies are born creat
and inventive, and others not.
2. There is evidence thaI all children love to
acl with variables, as materials and shapes; smells a
other physical phenomena. such as electricity, magnelism
gravity; media such as gases and fluids; sounds, music,
mOlion; chemical inleractions. cooking and fire; and
people, and animals. plants. words, conceplS and ideas.
all these things all children love to play, experiment,
cover and invent and have fun.
All these things have one thing in common, wh
is variables or 'loose parts'. The theory of loose parts say"
quite simply, the following:
In any environmenc, both the degree of in-
venciveness and creativity. and the possibility of dis-
covery, are directly proportional to the number and
kind of variables in i(.'
It does not require much imagination to reali
that most environments that do not work (I.e. : do not work
in terms of human interaction and involvement in the
described) such as schools. playgrounds. hospitals.
centers. inlernational airports. art galleries and museums,
do not do so because they do not meet the "loose parts"
requirement; instead. they are clean. static and
to play around with. What has happened is that adults in the
form of professional artists, architects, landscape architects.
and planners have had all the fun playing with their own ma-
terials. concepts and planning-alternatives. and then builders
have had all the fun building the environments out of real
materials; and thus has all the fun and creativity been
stolen: children and adults and the community have been
grossly cheated and the educational-cultural system makes
sure that they hold the belief that this is right . How many
schools have there been with a chain-link and black-top play-
ground where there has been a spontaneous revolution by
students to dig it up and produce a human environment in-
stead of a prison?
If we look for a moment at this theory of loose
pans. we find that some interesting work supports it and in
particular, that there has been a considerable amount of out-
standing recent research by people not in the traditional
fields of art, architecture and planning. Much of this re-
search fits into the following five categories:
Design by Community Interaction and Involvement
Ten years ago a speci al issue of the magazine
Anarchy2 was published in which nearly all the fundamental
30
recreational and community advantages of
re-playground environments were described, in-
ing the relationship between experiment and play, com-
ity involvement, the catalytic value of play-leaders, the
hip between accidents and the environment, and
the whole cOl"\cept of a 'free society in miniature.'
in 1967, the facts on adventure playgrounds and play-
were taken and discussed in the context of the archi-
and planning professions in an article in Interbuildl
) Although the implications of the concepts and facts
ned in these researches are only now being widely
nated, the process of community involvement has
very fast in both Europe and the United States. Out-
ing among these have been some of the educational
lities 'charettes' such as those in East New York4, and the
ter Neighborhood Action Project (SNAP) in Granby,
IkH..n.nnl, recently described in an unusual article in the
lour,.." I
5
The interesting aspect of the evolution of com-
ity involvement, especially in the area of recreation, is
the really meaningful programs soon appear to leave
parks, and recreation by the wayside and become social
zations for community action in all aspects ,Jf the en-
Pat Smythe, for example, a pioneer in this field,
for nine years on adventure playgrounds and then
fully involved in the revolutionary 'Neighborhood
ncil' project in Golborne.
6
In terms of loose parts we can
a natural evolution from creative play and particlpa-
with wood, hammers, ropes, nails and fire, to creative
and participation with the total process of design and
ning of regions in cities .
....."v;nr1 PI.nning and Design
Parallel with the development of community in-
nt has been a growth in behavioral planning, ie, the
of human requirements and needs as the basis for the
of the man-made part of the environment. A recent ex-
outlining this approach to design is Constance Perin's
her book, Man in Mind. Another example wnere the use
behavioral data is being used as a design determinant
the 'pattern-language' at present being developed at the
for Environmental Structure, Berkeley.
The relationship of behavioral' planning to the
of loose parts is a direct o'ne since the theory itself
from it. However one of the problems of loose parts
the range of possible human interaction is an exccp-
wide one and many behavioral studies have only gone
far to state very broad and general requirements (such
the statement, for example, that "children like caves")-
have not explicitly described the more subtle forms of
our that may occur-to use an analogy-"inside the
The behavioral generalizations of the 1970's often.
the generalities or "laws" of the pioneers of social
throOOI()2V and merely state what we already know to be
The process of community involvement is actually
Ie from the study of human interaction and be-
for example, to carry the previous analogy further,
study of children and cave-type environments only be-
meaningful when we contider children not only being
given cave but also when children have the opportunity
with space-forming materials in order that they may
construct, evaluate and modify their own caves. When
happens we have a perfect example of variables and
parIs in action and. more important. we find that a
I methodology of deSign, related to this example,
existed 'for some years: the methodology, involving
ARCHITECTURE-OctOber 1 g71
is called the "discovery method," has been developed by a
group of researchers working in curriculum innovation for
elementary schools. The obvious pattern of behavior that
can be identified here is a self-instructional pattern, namely,
that children learn most readily and easily in a laboratory-
type environment where they can experiment, enjoy and find
out things for themselves.7
I'ho1n (,om fdlKallnn eMIl" . NPwtnn.
Loose parIS at work-waler, ripples, refleclions, slush, floal-
ing and living objects. Many curriculum units are based on
experlmenrs w/lh waler; here is Ihe quickQSt, cheapest way
to introduce variables in/a an aspha/l/chain-link environment.
The ImlNd of Curriculum Developmenl
The principle of variables and loose parts has
been acknowledged by most educators since the 1960's when
Marhematia in Primary Schools first published in Eng-
land in 1966 by H.M.S.O. To Quote the Advisory Centre for
Education, "It was a bombshell." The discovery method that
it described has since then been wonderfully exemplified by
the Nuffield Foundation. the Elementary Science Study, and
several other organi zations,G
31
Th@ E.S.S.. for example. has now produced 30
of the most imaginative curriculum units ever devised: their
format, as is that of the Nuffield Mathematics Program. is
almost totally and concerns visual art and
music. as much as mathematics and the natural sciences. But
this is not all, for another characteristic of these programs
is that they break down the distinction between indoors and
outdoors. a feature that had hitherto been experimented with
mostly in the progressive schools o( the 1930's. By allowing
learning to take place outdoors. and fun and games to
Indoors. the dk tinct ion between education and ."'.-."', .........
began to disappear.
The Introduction of the discovery method
been accompanied by intense research into the documen
tion of human interaction and involvement: what did chi
do with the loose partsf What did they 'discover or
discoverl What concepts were involved? Did they
theil ideas back into the community and their family?
of all possible materials that could be provided. which
were the most (un to play with and the most capable of
ulating the cognitive, social and physical learning
cesses7**
It was educational evaluation that provided
missing element in the design and completed a system wh
is a perfect methodOlogy for designers. and which
the recent application of behavioral studies to urban plan
Meanwhile. the emphasis on real.life problems, frequ
outdoor and off the school premises. was the beginning
a natural trend toward environmental education.
Environmentoal Education
It is hard to talk about environmental
without mentioning that the whole educational system,
pre-school through university, is on the verge of changi
Who needs these institutions in their present form?
prototype (or education systems of the future are al
certainly those facilities that take children and adults
into the community and, conversely, allow all members
the community access to the facility.
Several groups in the U.S. have been
ing with this process with children, by far the most
hensive being the Environmental Science Center in
sota
9
. A complete bibliography of publications and
materials has recently been compiled for a new course at
University of California, Oavis.l0 Environmental educat
(as opposed to conservation education, or the understand
of preservation of the non-man-made environment)
the total study of the ecosystem, I.e.: man, his insti
and his strudural , chemical, etc . additions, included.
subject of human ecology, our values and concepts, the en
onmental alternatives and choices open to us, in the
sense, has recently become a dominant factor in some
cation programs. To express this in the Simplest
terms, there is a growing awareness that the most interesti
and vital loose parts are those that we have around us
day in the wilderness, the countryside, the city and the
Art and Science Exploratoria
Finally there are groups of people experiment
with the theory of loose parts in art galleries and the
museums. (A simple example leading to this interest was
discovery that the most worn tiles on the floor of m
were usually adjacent to those exhibits involving the
mum amount of variables and human interaction). In
the first comprehensive exhibition of interaction-wo
titled "Play Orbit" was held at the Institute of Contempo
Art in London. This has recently followed by an exhibition
Photo above, leU: pendulums and bouncers at the Valley
Elementary School project, University of California, Oa
Children love to oscillate vertically on bouncers and can
perimenl with weight, period, orbil, and many other con
Left: Voice tube made from PVC tube and a brass
strainer connects three levels of the Hide Away,
Resources Center, Pontiac, Mich. Voice tube adds
to any structure, allows experiments in
creases perception of space and volume.
32
n
IS
3-

e-
ry
ut
es
n-
o-
he
Ich
:ed
ng.
ltly
of
:ion
work (peru) by Robert Morris at the Tate Gallery. To quote
a critic' review of the exhibition, "the public got into the
party spirit-a somewhat overzealous participation. They
were Jumping and screaming, swinging the weights around
wild/ y-1hemiddle aged in particular. The children were the
mostsensibleofall thevisitors."11 We are beginningtorealize
that thereare moreways to interact with art than to be solely
contemplillive (i.e., there exists the possibility of more loose
parts and 'variables' than via visual perception alone) and
that al thoush It is fine to allow scientists and artists to invent
things, how about allowing everybody else to be creative
and invent ivealso?
TheImmedfateFuture
The whole idea of loose parts raises some funda-
mental questJons about the way we design things. If you are
an inventor or designer yourself, what parts or proportion
of an environment, or components for an environment can
you legitimately invent yourself,and how much,for example,
can children or adults in the community invent and build?
How are variables and loose parts introduced into the world
of newly bom children, and what function do the variables
have oncognitionand perception? Ifcontemplation is merely
one of many possible forms of human interaction, what ex-
are the other ways we can interact with our environ-
?Is society content to let only very few of its members
realize their creative potential? It is the purpose ofthis arti-
cle to propose that it is not, and that if we know that crea-
tivity is not just a characteristic of the gifted few, a crash
program of educational, recreational and environmental
. l rnnrn".. ..rU must be started. I would like to propose the
lowing four-part program, using the loose parts principle,
a..,h ..r ..twthiscouldbeachieved:
Givetopprioritytowherethechildrenare
All children, and particularly many of the most
such as those living in an urban ghetto or who are
spend alotofthemost important timeoftheir
in K-6 elementary schools, day-care, preschools and
ildren's hospitals. These are the environments that need
transformation. This holds true even in innovative
!n\l'lr.....hn.ClI districts that have extended orabolished the classroom
They should simply give top priority to the environ-
of the new classroom or playground, whether it be a
unit,exploratory museum, ecological reserve orstudy
,or wherever the children may be.
ll
Ten years ofvest-
et parks, concrete plazas and adventure playgrounds
failed to dothis: we must solve this problem. Even if a
communityis soldontheideaofapocket-park oradven-
nd it is still better to use the asphalt area of an
"'n,,,,,,t,,,rv school for it, for this is where the children are.
Let childrenplayapartintheprocess
Children greatly enjoy playing a part in the de-
process, This includes the study of the nature of the
. thinking about their requirements and needs;
planning alternatives; measuring, drawing,
making and mathematics; construction and bUilding;
ment, evaluation, modification and destruction. The
ofcommunity involvement,oncestarted, never stops.
environment and its parts is always changing and there
telling what it will look like. Contrary to traditional
and adventure playgrounds, the appearance of which
foregone conclusion, the possible kinds of environment
ned by the discovery method and principle of loose
is limitless. The children in the neighborhood will auto-
involve all their brothers,.sisters and families. This
through community involvement, but in the total
the children are the most important. It is not
lIIDl'lG-'lIPEARCHITECTURE-October1971
enough totalkaboutadesignmethodology; themethodology
must be converted into four-dimensional action, or it is
worthless.
3. UseanInterdisciplinaryapproach
In early childhood there is no important
difference between play and work, art and science, recrea-
tion and education-the either/or classifications normally
applied by adults to a child's environment. Education ;s
Above: Newsprint fun al Isla Vista Elementary School projecl,
College of Creative Sludies, University of California at San/a
Barbara.Children used the enormous rolls for sliding, folding,
hiding, pain/ing. maltress-building, bouncing, etc. Universily
faeu/ly, students provided with the rolls moslly slood and
slaredat them, expecling others tobe actively inventive.
Below: human interaction and involvement with water at
Portland Auditorium forecourl. its refraction. beading, noise.
Liquids, gases (waterfall, wind tunnel) afford classic exam
pies of how loose partspermit experimentation, creativity.
'See "Principles of Site Development for Elementary
MichaelHough and AsSOCiates, LAQ, OCI. '69.
See "Adventure Playgrounds: Europe Lead5 U.S. in Reuniting its
children with "TheLost Landscape ofSponlaniety." by Clare Cooper,
LAQ.October1970,and winnernfthe Bradford Williams Medal.1971,.
(Ref : PEOPLE.pp.6-7(hi) ED.
'''SeealsoUnobtrusive Measures: Nonreactive Re5earch intheSocial
Sdences. by Eugene J. Webb, Dondld T. Campbell, Richard D.
Schwartzdnd LeeSechre5t; RandMcNallyand Co.,Chicago.1966; p. 2.
33
needing it,l. Much of this evaluation, filming and
can be experimented With, taped, photographed and
back by the children themselves.
ClEARI"!G HOUSl FOR '''!FORMATlO''!
Apilrt from ERIC (Education RC50urce5 Inform.tion
which is academically oriented, there have been few
create 01 ndtion-wide system of environment-information,
in tha are;! of a;!rly childhood, elementary and &econdary
Most of the work at assembling data h3s been rectricted to
book titles-a method which has proven practically useless.
people do not have the time to check off bibliographie,. Some
amples are as follows :
(1) Intardisclplin;Jry Resf'arch Index on PlilY: a
the Literature, David A. Sleet, .Dep.:lrtment of Physical
The University of Toledo, Ohio, Mav,.W71.
(2) Bibliography o( Leisure: 1965-1970, Fred W.
Program in leisure Education, Recreation and Related Comn,ul!l
Service, Tedchers' College, Columbia University, January, 1971.
(3) A Bibliography o( Opan Education, Education
opment Center and the 'Advisory for Open Education,' S5
Street, Newton, Mass., 1971 (primarily a list of EDC or
publications).
(4) Environmenl Education-,.t. Bibliography,
mental Education in Early Childhood, Simon Nicholson,
University of California, Davis, California, 1971.
In addition to such lists, there are also some
writings that may have more meaning for the averase citi zen
community, for they are not merely literary. Such an example is:
(5) Making Ihe Cily Observable, Richard Saul
Walker Art Center and MIT Press, 1971.
But the best interdisciplinary compendium so far is
the sum total of the issues, especially that of September, 1971, of
(6) Big Rock Candy Mounrain, Portola Institute,
Park . California.
A loose Parts Blbllosraphy
(1) What do Pfaygrounds Teach? Simon Nicholson: 'The
and Design of the Recreation Environment,' University
University of Cal ifornia, Davis, 1970, pp.5-1to 5-11
(2) Adventure Pl ayground-A Parable o( ,.t.narchy, Colin
'Anarchy,' Freedom Press, England, Sept. 1961. pp. 193-201 (see
issue on this subject)
(3) United Kingdom-Whose Playgrounds?: in 'Interbuildl
Dec. 1967, pp. 19-19
(4) Residents and Architects Plan Local Center in Brooklyn,
Dunton : 'The New York Times,' Wed. Jan. 6, 1971
(5) Community ,.t.clion in a Twilighl Zone, Roger Barnard:
Journal.' Oct. 1970, pp. 445-453
(6) Democracy begins al Golborne, Des Wilson : 'The
London, 11 April, 1971
(7) Slructures (or Self-Instruclion, Simon Nicholson: 'Studio
nalional Journal of Modern Art,' New York, June 1968, pp.
(8) I Do and I Undersland, and curriculum materials,
Foundation, John Wiley and Sons, New York, and
Ihe Elementary Science Study and curriculum materials by the
cation Devf'lopment Center, Newton, Mass.
(9) Environmental Studies (or Ihe Elemenlary School, and
riculum materials, Grades 3-6, Environmental Science Center
tributing Co., Golden Valley, Minnesota
(10) Environmental Education in Early Childhood, Simon
University of California Extension, Davis, California 95616
(11) The School Playground as an OUldoor Learning Environ
a Community Proj ect 10 Extend rhe Elementary School
(0 Ihe Outdoor Playground, Office of Project Planning and
ment, Berkeley Unified School District, Berkeley, California,
(12) The first exa mple of the low-cost conversion of an
K-6 elementary school in N. California took place at Valley
School in 1970: see Domain (or Creative Play al Valley Oak
ground, 'The Davis Enterprise,' DaviS, California, July 17, 1970
(13) Everelt Inlerim Preliminary Reporl, Education/Recreation,
eral ,.t.na/ysis and Recommendations (Appendix 2), Lawrence
and Associates: City of Everett, Washington
(14) The quickest way to get some preliminary information
present Big Rock Candy Mounlain: Resources (or our
Winter 1970 (and all other issues), Portola Institute Inc.,
California. For information on communications see
Raindance Corporation, 24 East 22d, New York City 10010:
pp. 11-12; Edition 2, p. 16, and Edition 3, p. 6.
Pump room of Porllind FOrecourt contains dimmer controls
for cCI,ades, '.'actor sWitches for w:lter flow; number of
variables or 100 e pans would be Increased by public acce:!:!.
Below: wliting room. San Franci5co International Airport.
Or wallins anywhere, :my inslilUlion- no loose p;ms. Time
spent hf're b life spenr siuing in fixed rows in Uller boredom.
Photo by Paul Ryan
recreation, and vice vena.
ll
For professional architects and
landscape architects, this means a first-hand experience
and knowledge of children's behavior and an understanding
of their' physical and social needs and cognitive learning
processes. The revolution in curriculum innovation, men-
tioned briefly above, was undertaken by researchers acquaint-
ed with real human needs, not by researchers employing
behavioral consultants on the side. Such an interdisciplinary
approach is a prerequisite to the solution of the problem.
4. fstablsll a dearing-house for Information
We desperately need an international clearing-
house for information on children's environments, from the
womb onward, dealing with all aspects of their growth, edu-
cation, curricula and play, and, in particular, information on
human inreraclion and involvement with loose parts in the
environment. The time-lapse for dissemination of research
and evaluation i s at present about five to 10 years and should
be reduced to the near-instantaneous. The information should
be available in the form of newsletters, microfilm, audio-
and video-cassette, and video-cassette systems linked to
CATV, and .communicated to school districts all over the
country, from which it could be distributed, either free or by
subscription, to members of the community, elementary
schools, day-care centers, and any other person or institution
34