We are delighted to announce the winner of the 2015 international Playable City Award, Urbanimals, created by the Laboratory for Architectural Experiments, LAX, based in Poland.

This September and October, startling and colourful creatures will appear in unexpected places across the city of Bristol, waiting for you to play with them. Take up the proud dolphin’s challenge to leap together, chase a shy rabbit down the pavement or play skipping with a cheeky kangaroo! Lurking behind city walls and hiding in dark corners, Urbanimals are eager to brighten up your day. Urbanimals need you as much as you need them, as these interactive creatures come to life only when you play with them. Hiding in dark corners and dreary pathways, they invite you to see you city anew and challenge citizens to seek them out wherever they go.

Designed to surprise and delight, Urbanimals will create unexpected encounters for all ages across the city. Their colourful personalities allow for a range of exciting and original interactions shedding new light on the forgotten parts of our daily lives.

Judge Richard Roberts from Jason Bruges Studio says,

“It was the fresh response to the brief, and the positive impact that these pieces could make to the everyday city journeys of the people that encounter them that won me over”.

Urbanimals by Lax was selected from 197 applications received from 60 countries around the world, and the installation will be unveiled in Bristol in September. LAX are an experimental design team based in Poland, who describe themselves as practicing ‘at the edge of architecture’, testing the boundaries of urban planning, design, psychology and computation. They will now work with Watershed producers across the summer in Bristol to explore their ideas, developing the technology to bring their vision to life.

Anna and Sebastian from LAX say,

“Bringing people together through play in forgotten areas of the city lies at the heart of what we do. With Urbanimals we want to highlight the city’s hidden value and treasures inspiring residents to consider their environment in new and unexpected ways, we want to stimulate their senses and inject a sense of excitement and wonder into the everyday urban landscape.”

Watershed's Clare Reddington, Executive Producer of the Award says:

"We are very much looking forward to working with Ania and Sebastian to bring Urbanimals to life in unexpected and hidden corners of Bristol. We love the combination of imagination and sophistication that the idea offers and were impressed with their ambitious and playful response to the playable city theme.”

Check back regularly for updates to find out how the team are getting on.

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