So predictable and formulaic is the contemporary playground – certainly in Europe and the US – that we have forgotten there may be alternative arrangements. The standard-issue assortment of swings, seesaws, slides and sandpits – multi-stakeholder-sanctioned, mostly siloed behind gates and fences – is an urban constant. Strange that spaces charged with firing the imagination should be so unimaginative.
There are other ways of doing things, of course – radical new playscapes or smart reworkings of the established order. Muf Architecture/Art has just completed a redesign of an under-fives’ playground at the Golden Lane Estate in London’s Clerkenwell. Golden Lane is what the architecture practice Chamberlin, Powell & Bon did before it got around to the neighbouring Barbican Estate. It is, then, a protected treasure and the playground commission, the reactivation of a neglected sunken pit with broken equipment, left limited room for manoeuvre. Muf, though, has made the most of the physical and creative space available.
There is a slide and a beautifully proportioned climbing frame. But also a ring of natural stone and reclaimed timber. It’s neo-Neolithic, accenting rather than apologising for the unapologetic brutalism of the original space. What the new design also offers is positive ambiguity, a space that children can imagine and reimagine as outer space or magic kingdom. It offers challenge, physicality, hard surfaces and sharp edges (though Muf ’s Liza Fior explains that those sharp edges are actually carefully calculated radii, worked out with playground design consultant Rob Wheway). It is, radii and all, a space to experiment with and negotiate risk, a fundamental requirement of meaningful play and development.
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Denne historien er fra October 2019-utgaven av Wallpaper.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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POLE POSITION
A compact Melbourne house with a small footprint is big on efficiency and experimentation
URBAN OASIS
At an art-filled Mexico City residence, New York designer Giancarlo Valle has put his own spin on the country's traditional craft heritage
WARM FRONT
Designer Clive Lonstein elevates his carefully curated Manhattan home with rich textures and fabrics
BALCONY SCENE
A Brazilian island hotel offers a unique approach to the alfresco experience
ENSEMBLE CAST
How architect Anne Holtrop is leaving his mark on the Middle East
Survival mode
A new show looks at preparing for a post-apocalyptic landscape (and other catastrophes)
FLASK FORCE
A limited-edition perfume collaboration between two Spanish craft masters says it with flowers
BLOOM SERVICE
A flower-shaped brutalist beauty in Geneva gets a refresh
SECOND NATURE
A remodelled museum in Lisbon, by Kengo Kuma & Associates, meshes Japanese and Portuguese influences to create a space that sits in harmony with its surroundings
Guiding light
Designer Joe Armitage follows his grandfather's footsteps in India, reissuing his elegant midcentury lamp and creating a new chandelier for Nilufar Gallery