Following a public open call, Bristol-based designer Tom Metcalfe and London play scholar, Sophie Sampson have been selected to take part in the Playable City Tokyo 2018 Residency in June and September 2018. The residency is an opportunity to collaboratively research and develop playful ideas at the intersection of art, technology, society that innovate around public space in Tokyo, and start a new kind of city conversation through play.
Sophie Sampson
Sophie Sampson is a writer and creative producer, working mainly in the field of games and play for public spaces. She has a particular interest in the physicality of play and projects deeply rooted in place, history and archives. Since 2015 she has been making work as part of Matheson Marcault with Holly Gramazio, in particular developing a practice around observation-led physical installations, seeking to understand the impulse to play in public more closely.
Previously as a freelance creator she wrote games and developed prototyping-led projects that integrated new technologies for cultural institutions and commercial clients including BBC, Faber, Warner Bros, Universal and Historic Royal Palaces, working with companies including Hide&Seek, Caper and Somethin’ Else. She also produces Now Play This, an annual festival of experimental gameplay at Somerset House, and writes on history, culture and game design.
Tom Metcalfe
Tom is a designer. He has worked across a wide range of industries and sectors. He has harvested clouds in the Scottish Highlands for Innis and Gunn to make SkyPA; created useless objects, Chindogu, for Yo! Sushi; explored new ways of engaging with news, with Trinity Mirror, funded by Google DNI; developed a mind-controlled beer pouring robot for brands including Marriott, TEDx, and Twitter Live; designed a concept store for the revolutionary fashion brand, UNMADE; and developed internet-connected objects for audiences in Immersive Theatre.
His practice is characterised by its focus on people and its critical approach to designing new experiences with objects, environment, and space. Based in Bristol, UK, Tom has worked around the world including Korea, China, India, USA, and across Europe. He is Creative Director at Thomas Buchanan and Unit Director at The Centre for Innovation, University of Bristol. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts.