Tassy Ellen Thompson

About

Tassy Thompson is a researcher at the Department of Architecture and Planning, working on transdisciplinary practices for social transformation within the Enhance Alliance project, aligned with the New European Bauhaus goals. Tassy is an experienced outdoor play space designer. Her design practice and research frames all-age play as 'critical infrastructure' and foundational for healthy and liveable, multi-species, urban, peri-urban, and rural ecosystems. Tassy's design and research practices approaches all age play and playfulness as fundamental to human and more-than-human wellbeing and to liveable neighbourhoods.

With 25 years of practical experience in the built environment, Tassy has co-created and project managed award winning, nature-based outdoor spaces for play and recreation, as well as large-scale public realm and architectural artworks in UK, Norway and USA. With others she co-founded and has co-directed the Elvelangs i Kongsberg community festival since 2018, which won the City Development Award for 2023. Her work combines co-created, participatory design, site specific and performative arts, and landscape architecture practices with ethical, pro-ecological approaches informed by posthuman and vital materialist perspectives. Tassy has a strong interest in methodological pluralism and diverse critical practices in theoretical and methodological enquiry.

Tassy collaborates widely with colleagues across sectors including health, planning, digital innovation, geography, architecture, ecology, pedagogy, sport and culture, and serves on the editorial board of IPA Play Rights Journal. Tassy was on the Academic and Practitioner Advisory Board of the International Play Association Triennial 2023 and the Norwegian Lighting Prize Jury 2025. Tassy has taught and lectured in play design, public realm design, innovation, community participation, craft, arts, architectural subjects since 1999 in the UK, USA, Norway, and Denmark, and holds degrees from Glasgow School of Art, Ohio State University, and a PhD from the University of South-Eastern Norway.

Thank you for your interest. Please do make contact for possible collaborations.

Research

Recent activities:

Embodied Learning and Teaching Research Group (EMAL): 'We Start with the Body" - transdisciplinary research approaches to methodological pluralism in public health and urban design'. Conference presentation. Oct 2025

Lecture: 'Post Qualitative Science and Transdisciplinary Futures. How can we make better 'sense' of the world together?' University of South Eastern Norway.

Lecture: 'Post Humanism, Vital Materialism and Ethics - Vibes? - relational ethics and vibrant matter.' - University of South Eastern Norway

Lecture: 'Post Positivism and the Eco-Feminists - Witches!' University of South Eastern Norway

Research activities:

Radical Entanglements. Eindhoven 2022 (online global conference) Presentation: Unplanned works. Radical, playful entanglements towards pro-ecological urban development. In Schröder, T. W. A., Zhong, W., Banou, S., & Meneses de Sequeira, J. M. B. (Eds.) (2023). Radical Entanglements: Architectures, Societies, Environm ents, Politics: RAPS 2022 Eindhoven Conference: Book of Abstracts. Radical Architecture Practice for Sustainability. Eindhoven University of Technology. (p50)

Bin Norden New Nordic Childhood Conference 2023. Child-Cultures: Landscapes for play, art, and explorations Bergen May 2023. Presentation: Play heritage as cultural heritage? Broken stone fences and crumbling playhouses. https://www.hvl.no/en/research/conference/bin-norden-2023-conference/

Bin Norden New Nordic Childhood Conference 2021 Designing for Play in the New Nordic Childhood. Design Skole Kolding. Online (Covid restrictions) Presentation: When Place Comes to Matter.

StorByKonferansen 2020 Oslo. Presentation: Builders and Blueberries. Pro-ecological approaches to designing for play.

USN Forskningsdagene 2021. Forskerseminar arrangert av USN forskergruppene EMAL, ForEst, LET’s og Kunstnerisk utviklingsarbeid 29 Sept 2021. Presentation: Ecological Epistemology for an Empathetic Campus: Mutual support claims or ‘knowing neighbourhoods’.

USN Forskningsdagene 2020 Online (Covid Restrictions). Dissemination: Creation of a website Lets Do Sustainability Research and interactive Scrollytelling Map Lets Do Sustainability Research -a 'scrollytelling' digital tour!

Other:

Academic and Practitioner Advisory Panel for the International Play Association Triennial 2023.

Editorial Board Playfor the Play Rights Magazine, International Play Association

Jury Member 2025 Norwegian Architectural Lighting Prize

Co-Editor International Journal of Play Special Issue June 2025

Co-Editor Child and Youth Environments Journal Special Issue 2025

Design Research Council Bilboa 2022 Peer Reviewer. Track: Designing for Emergence – Designing for Play Lockton, Dan & Lenzi, Sara & Hekkert, Paul & Oak, Arlene & Sadaba, Juan & Lloyd, Peter. (2022). Proceedings of DRS 2022: Design Research Society International Conference, Bilbao. 10.21606/drs.2022.cv001

Project Co- Coordinator 10th International Light Symposium 2024 - Universitetet i Sørøst-Norge

Embodied Learning and Teaching

Publications

McKendrick, J.H., Thompson, T., & Alfaro-Simmonds, M.J. (2025). New Directions when Designing for Play. Children, Youth and Environments 35(2), 220-228. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/967834

McKendrick, J.H., Thompson, T., & Alfaro-Simmonds, M.J. (2025). Innovations and Traditions in Designing for Play. Children, Youth and Environments 35(2), 1-9. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/967823

McKendrick, J. H., Thompson, T., & Marko, S. (2025). Conceptualising and evidencing the impact of play on health and wellbeing. International Journal of Play, 14(2), 115–119. https://doi.org/10.1080/21594937.2025.2508644

Thompson, T., McKendrick, J. H., & Marko, S. (2025). Play for health and wellbeing: reinforcing and reinvigorating the evidence base. International Journal of Play, 14(2), 258–262. https://doi.org/10.1080/21594937.2025.2508647

Thompson, T. E. (2025). Survey By Play: Pro-ecological understandings of outdoor landscapes (Publication Number 240) [Monograph, University of South-Eastern Norway]. University of South-Eastern Norway. https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3198520

2025

McKendrick, John H.; Thompson, Tassy; Marko, Stacey. (2025) Conceptualising and evidencing the impact of play on health and wellbeing. International Journal of Play
Academic article
McKendrick, John H.; Thompson, Tassy; Alfaro-Simmonds, Maria Jesus. (2025) Innovations and Traditions in Designing for Play. Children, Youth and Environments
Academic article
McKendrick, John H.; Thompson, Tassy; Alfaro-Simmonds, Maria Jesus. (2025) New Directions when Designing for Play. Children, Youth and Environments
Academic article
Thompson, Tassy; McKendrick, John H.; Marko, Stacey. (2025) Play for health and wellbeing: reinforcing and reinvigorating the evidence base. International Journal of Play
Academic article

Journal publications

McKendrick, John H.; Thompson, Tassy; Marko, Stacey. (2025) Conceptualising and evidencing the impact of play on health and wellbeing. International Journal of Play
Academic article
McKendrick, John H.; Thompson, Tassy; Alfaro-Simmonds, Maria Jesus. (2025) Innovations and Traditions in Designing for Play. Children, Youth and Environments
Academic article
McKendrick, John H.; Thompson, Tassy; Alfaro-Simmonds, Maria Jesus. (2025) New Directions when Designing for Play. Children, Youth and Environments
Academic article
Thompson, Tassy; McKendrick, John H.; Marko, Stacey. (2025) Play for health and wellbeing: reinforcing and reinvigorating the evidence base. International Journal of Play
Academic article

Teaching

Teaching and supervision responsibilities at University of South-Eastern Norway. 2018-2025

MASTGD.504.1_25H Autumn 2025 Masters course in Scientific Theory and Method (Post Qualitative Science and Transdisciplinary Futures)

Body Based Practices Spring 2025. PhD Course. Role: Lecturer/Workshop Leader

LYSINT112 Autumn 2024. Introduction to Lighting Design. Role: Course Leader/Supervisor/Internal Examiner

LYSKON116 Spring 2025. Concept and Design Methods. Role: Course Leader/Supervisor/Internal Examiner

HoD 104-1 23V. Spring 2023. Foundation Studies Art & Design. Role: Lecturer/Supervisor

60MASTON-1 22. Autumn 2022 Spring 2024. Masters in Art & Design. Role: Lecturer/Supervisor

MASTGD502-1 22V. Spring 2022. Masters. Individual Aesthetic Project. Role: Lecturer/Supervisor

ARK 101- 1 V22 Spring 2022. Introduction to Architecture. Role: Lecturer/Internal Examiner

BACH 300-1 21V Spring 2021. BA (Craft and Art). Role: Lecturer

DESPRO 101 V21. Spring 2021. Product Design. Role: Lecturer

ARK 101- 1 V21 Spring 2021. Introduction to Architecture. Role: Lecturer/Internal Examiner

ARK 101-1 V20. Spring 2020 Introduksjon til Arkitekter. Role: Lecturer/Internal Examiner

BACHLYSDES. Bachelors Project Lighting Design. Role: Supervisor/Lecturer

KTREM 101/201 V21 Spring2021. Creative Expression in Wood & Metal. Role: Course Leader/Supervisor/Internal Examiner

KTREM 101 V20. Spring 2020. Creative Expression in Wood & Metal. Role: Course Leader/Supervisor/Internal Examiner

LYSKON 116 19V Spring 2019. Architectural Lighting Design. Design Concepts and Methods. Role: Course Leader/Lecturer/Supervisor/Internal Examiner

890 KUVIK1 Spring 2019. Art and Visual Communication. Role: Course Leader/Supervisor/Internal Examiner

890 KUVIK1 Autumn 2018. Art and Visual Communication. Role: Course Leader/Supervisor/Internal Examiner

Other teaching experience:

· Design Skole Kolding, Kolding, Denmark Masters in Design. Designing for Play.Masters Design Camp. Spring 2018. Role: Visiting lecturer/tutor.

· The Lighthouse. Scotland’s Centre for Architecture and Design, Glasgow. Scotland. UKRole: STEM Educational Workshops (Makerspace) Coordinator/facilitator/teacher. 2004-2008. Including Scottish Government Curriculum for excellence development programme - contributor. National participatory, all age, workshop programme on architecture and the built environment for schools, communities and organisation (public and private)

· University of Strathclyde Summer Academy. Glasgow. Scotland. UK Role: weeklong creative learning project design and delivery for prospective university entrants. In 2005 Personal Expression in Digital Media in collaboration with Caroline Campbell and in 2006 Democracy and Public Realm with Glasgow Youth Services

· Scottish Network for Able Pupils. University of Glasgow Department of Education. Diverse workshops for school students in creative processes, innovation and critical practice. 2004-6 Role: Education workshop designer and leader.

· Future Learning and Teaching Project (FLaT) Scottish Government: Design of future learning environments. 2004 Role: Learning Space Designer/Contributor to two projects and publications on learning environments for Learning and Teaching Scotland (now Education Scotland).

· Early career teaching: Glasgow School of Art. Sculpture and Environmental Art BA. Role: First Year Tutor. 1999-2000 Ohio State University. Department of Fine Art. Video and Performance Art BA. Role: Course leader and teacher. 1996-97 Life drawing. BA. Role: Course leader and teacher. 1997

Språkvelger

Tassy Ellen Thompson