LECTURES / KEYNOTES
Since 2014, Ryan Swanson, the founder & creative director of The Urban Conga, has been traveling around the world sharing, conversing, and exploring the value and impacts of creating more “Playable” Cities. Ryan’s passion for creating more playable cities came during his thesis while pursuing a master’s degree in architecture. He and two colleagues began activating underutilized spaces within their city with small-scale interventions that all happened to use methods of play to spark social connection. It was during this time that Ryan really began to see the value of play and started The Urban Conga, dedicated to exploring the impact play can have on our cities and communities’ health, equity, identity, social, and economic value.
Ryan’s work not only focuses on creating a variety of multiscale play(ces), but also in highlighting the qualitative and quantitative impacts play can have on the development of our urban fabric. Utilizing this information to destigmatize play as something only for certain people within certain places, and elevate it as a viable tool within the design of our cities and communities. This work expanded when Ryan was selected by the British Arts Council to work with 15 creative producers around the world investigating the idea of a “Playable City” at a variety of scales. This investigative research then turned into him publishing “A Guide for Creating a Playable City.” This can be found for free at the link on the bottom of the page. .
Previous Lectures / Keynotes
2022 American Institute of Architects National Conference- Chicago, IL USA
2022 SXSW: Play(ce) Makers - Austin, TX USA
2022 SXSW EDU: Value of Play Beyond the Playground- Austin, TX USA
2021 CODAWORX: ART + ACTIVE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PANEL - Digital Panel
2021 PROJECT FOR PUBLIC SPACES: 2021 Walk, Bike, Places conference - Digital Lecture
2021 PRATT APP & PIPSA – Brooklyn, NY USA
2021 ASSOCIAZIONE ACROPOLI & University OF TRENTO – Trento, Italy
2021 CREATIVE PLACEMAKING SUMMIT – Digital Lecture
2020 AUBURN University: School of Architecture – Digital Lecture
2020 STELLENBOSCH Triennial– Stellenbosch, South Africa
2019 City Change Through Play - Clearwater, FL USA
2019 Playable City Melbourne Symposium - Melbourne, Australia
2019 Project for Public Spaces: 2019 International Placemaking Week – Chattanooga, TN USA
2019 SXSW CONFERENCE - Austin, TX USA
2019 Dublin City Change Masterclass - Dublin, Ireland
2019 Aberdeen City Council - Aberdeen, Scotland
2018 British Council Playable City Tokyo Conference – Tokyo, Japan
2018 SXSW CONFERENCE – Austin, TX USA
2018 Maverick City Symposium - Liverpool, United Kingdom
2019 Playable City Idea Lab Austin - Austin, TX USA
2018 University of South Florida featured lecture- Tampa, FL USA
2018 Conversations in Art and Innovation – Pinellas County, FL USA
2017 City Works Expo - Roanoke, VA USA
2017 British Council Playable City Conference - Bristol, United Kingdom
2017 America Walks Conference – St Paul, MN USA
2017 KaBOOM! Play Academy Conference – Washington DC USA
2015 TEDx – Tampa, FL USA
2014-2015 New Urbanism Film Festival–Los Angles, CA USA