Visualizing Students’ Latent Spatial Needs in Campus Planning Through LEGO® Serious Play®

Abstract

This study investigates the potential of LEGO® Serious Play® (LSP) as a participatory method for visualizing latent spatial needs in campus planning. A series of workshops was conducted exclusively with university students at Wakayama University, where participants constructed physical models representing their ideal campus environments and articulated the meanings embedded in their models. The resulting models and narratives were qualitatively analysed with a focus on spatial continuity, boundary definition, centrality, and patterns of movement and stay. The findings indicate that LSP enables students to externalize implicit spatial preferences that are difficult to capture through conventional questionnaires or interviews, particularly regarding intermediate spaces, informal gathering areas, and perceived spatial hierarchies. This study positions LEGO® Serious Play® as an effective qualitative tool for integrating students’ latent spatial perceptions into early-stage campus planning and design processes.