The Spiel Mobile
The Spiel Mobile is a mobile, pop‑up consultation tool designed by A Playful City and Sean Harrington Architects to engage community members of all ages and abilities in co‑creating public spaces.
Built to be eye‑catching, easy to transport, and adaptable to various settings, it serves as a playful “mini‑public square” that invites participation through games, drawing, mapping, storytelling, and interactive conversations.
Since its debut in mid‑2017, The Spiel Mobile has enabled playful consultations that shaped outcomes like youth seating, musical installations, and playful streets in Dublin, proving its power as a catalyst for inclusive, community‑driven placemaking.
Co-creating co-creation!
In 2017, A Playful City hosted a design charrette in the Tara Buildings to co-create the Spiel Mobile—a mobile consultation tool shaped by insights from over 500 children in Dublin’s NEIC, gathered with support from the Early Learning Initiative.
The charrette brought together designers, artists, and community members to prototype playful, inclusive engagement methods. The resulting Spiel Mobile later captured public input that directly informed the programming of the Design Meets Play conference, embedding community voice into its foundation.
Co‑creation process: Users collaborate to design the mobile unit, ensuring it’s welcoming and accessible for diverse participants.
Versatile consultation methods: Activities range from modified games (e.g., hoop toss with design questions) to “postcard from the future” exercises, visual mapping, and creative “make & do” workshops.
Facilitated but flexible format: Equipped with facilitators to guide sessions and simple tools for documentation, it captures valuable insights efficiently.
Follow‑through: Engagement is not tokenistic—communities are informed before events, consulted meaningfully, then results are analysed and fed back into tangible space improvements, reinforcing trust and ownership.
The Spiel Mobile featured in the A Playful City x STIPO Toolbox. The guide outlines its purpose, design process and practical tools for activating community participation through games, creative activities and open dialogue. Ideal for urbanists, placemakers and community groups, it offers actionable methods to gather insights and co-create better public spaces with everyone in mind.