Tuesday, 18 September 2007 | Levent OZLER
Playground for Urban Cities in 2015
Young children acquire most of their social behaviors through playing with others. So, what they play with greatly matters. In large urban cities, the playground is often one of the few outside place children have free access to. It is time to redefine the functions a playground should offer in ten years from now, by 2015. Considering that most social needs of children age 3 to 8 will not have significantly changed, as tends to show different various scientific analysis of the evolution of society, cities and children in general. They obviously need to exercise outside, but they must also acquire self-confidence and social values.
Too often, playgrounds are seen as boring and are deserted after a while. Hence, the idea to have a solid structures allowing for different games to be rotated between playgrounds, or even within every playground itself. So the various elements are held to the ground by a series of studs evenly embedded within the foundation of the playground itself. It goes without saying that this grid is a constraint that has to be taken into account during the conception of each interchangeable element. It plays a role in the determination of the size and shape of each game, just as much as the ergonomics and general legislations.
In order to make sure that the elements of the playground could be financially accessible to a wide range of communities the pieces have been designed to be producible using generally accessible technology: metalwork, rotation molding, PUR foam, recycled rubber...
The various element of the playground are meant to foster the acquisition of some values needed to live in a community. So some of games will in a way highlight some social behaviors and encourage communication, independence, self-esteem, respect for other and for what belongs to the community, but also encourage the need to behave as the majority, as well as encourage young children to find their own path and venture out.
Alain Gilles: http://www.alaingilles.com/
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