The Adventure Playground: Architectures of Contemporary Play is a series of exploratory talks and propositions that investigates processes of play and imagination and their role in built environments and the designed spaces of playgrounds in Britain. It brings forward the architectural and political history of playgrounds as dedicated spaces for children across contemporary cities and centres on the idea of ‘creating worlds’.
Sol Pérez-Martínez is an architect, researcher and educator. After receiving her architecture and master’s degree from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Sol ran an architectural practice where she and her firm partners developed projects for private clients and the Chilean government. Their last public building in 2014 was a school in the South of Chile, which inspired her research about architecture, education and public engagement. Since then, Sol has collaborated with teachers, artists, architects and community groups in public history projects, curating educational programs, conferences and exhibitions to widen the public’s involvement in architecture and the built environment.
Sol has lectured at The Bartlett as a module leader for the MSc Learning Environments and at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile as part of the undergraduate architecture programme. She has also been invited to present her work internationally, including at the Whitechapel Gallery, Tate Exchange, Slough Museum, Urban Education Live, Folkestone Triennale, Central Saint Martins and Max Planck Institute.
Sol holds a PhD in Architecture & Education from The Bartlett and the Institute of Education at UCL, as well as a Master in Architectural History from the same university. In addition, Sol has received grants and fellowships in support of her research from the Chilean Government, The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment, and the Canadian Centre for Architecture. Sol has participated as a consultant, critic, and advisor in community groups and universities in Chile and the UK. Currently, she is postdoctoral fellow at the Group Hultzsch (gta-ETH Zurich) in the project ‘Women Writing Architecture’. Her postdoctoral research focuses on the experiences of Latin American women writing about architecture and the built environment.