Unlearning through play: how performing games reframe care and inclusion in design education

Banteli, Amalia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-3603-7728 and Ntzani, Dimitra ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9798-8873 2026. Unlearning through play: how performing games reframe care and inclusion in design education. Presented at: Learnings/UnLearnings: Environmental learning, spatial design, and participatory pedagogies within institutions and beyond., London, UK, 3-5 September 2026. Published in: Mahon, Kieran, Schalk, Meike and Antaki, Nicola eds.

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Abstract

This paper explores the link between performing arts and design pedagogies as a means of instilling empathy and inspiring inclusive mindset creation for architecture students at the beginning of their studies. It presents and reflects on how performing games and participatory design were used in a live teaching education innovation project funded by Cardiff University’s Teaching and Learning academy. During the project, second-year architecture students collaborated with Hijinx Odyssey, an inclusive drama group based in Cardiff, to understand the needs of performers with physical and/or learning disabilities and to co-design inclusive stage environments. Students and actors shared creative routines, performing games, theatrical improvisations, ethnographic observation, and design reviews to generate stage-set designs for the Odyssey’s upcoming performance: ‘Humbug!’. End of project student reflections focused on what the students learnt, re-learnt and, as importantly, what they had ‘unlearnt’ as part of their interactions with the performers and their overall engagement with the live project. The reflections arising from this pedagogical partnership with Hijinx Odyssey demonstrate how knowledge shaped through performing games and participatory design can meaningfully enhance civic engagement in higher education and architectural practice. By bringing architecture students into creative exchange with inclusive drama communities, these collaborations recover marginalised or often overlooked perspectives that fall outside dominant institutional narratives.This paper advocates for the integration of performing arts and inclusive community partnership into design education as a means to cultivate an ethos of care, attentiveness, and shared responsibility. Such encounters broaden students’ understanding of spatial experience and reframe design learning as a caring, relational practice grounded in empathy and mutual creativity. In doing so, they support more inclusive pathways into architectural education while empowering students to become future practitioners attuned to the wellbeing and diverse lived experiences of the communities they ultimately serve.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item - unpublished
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Schools > Architecture
Subjects:	N Fine Arts > NA Architecture
Related URLs:	Organisation
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	15 September 2026
Last Modified:	16 Sep 2026 11:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/189642

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