playgrounds

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Design

A Menagerie of Playground Creatures by MONSTRUM Turn Animals into Outdoor Gyms

Copenhagen-based MONSTRUM (previously) continues to transform playgrounds into imaginative habitats for land and sea creatures. Sometimes towering dozens of feet in the air, the architectural animals rest on stone and painted ground coverings, their bellies and limbs left hollow to fit climbing ropes, tunnels, and slides that scale the length of a tentacle or fin.

Helmed by designers Ole B. Nielsen and Christian Jensen, MONSTRUM has grown to a team of more than 60 designers, engineers, and craftspeople in recent years, allowing the studio to expand the size of its projects, as well. Works like “The Land of River Giants” in Tulsa, Oklahoma, contain multiple creatures, including two monumental herons and a long-nosed paddlefish surrounded by reeds nearby. The piece is just one example of MONSTRUM’s increased focus on accessibility for all ages and abilities, with the fish’s mouth serving as a low, gaping entrance designed for smaller children and a 12-foot high slide descending from the birds for older kids. Additional elements like climbing areas and rushes primed for hide-and-seek surround the massive animals.

MONSTRUM currently has three playgrounds on view at Expo 2020 Dubai and a number of projects in-progress for the coming year. “A snapshot from our workshop at the moment would show that we’ve got everything from helicopters to giant birds and otters under construction,” Nielsen shares. Explore a map of the playgrounds and additional designs on the studio’s site.

 

Design

A Photographer Captures a Dwindling Herd of Elephant Slides Across Taiwan

Wander into a playground in Taiwan, and you might stumble upon an elephant in the midst of basketball courts and swingsets. Vintage slides shaped like the lumbering animal were once popular in the country, and although the equipment is generally out of use because it doesn’t match current regulations, the eclectic designs remain a fixture in both abandoned and thriving playgrounds. Photographer Pi Cheng Hsiu documents these quirky creations by the hundreds—in addition to similarly shaped animals like seahorses and giraffes—and you can find a vast array of colors and styles on Instagram. You also might enjoy these elephants squeezed into tight spots. (via Present & Correct)

 

Art Design

Rael San Fratello’s Pink Teeter-Totters at the U.S.-Mexico Border Win Beazley Design of the Year

The three neon pink seesaws that slotted through the U.S.-Mexico border were just named the 2020 Beazley Design of the Year. Conceived by Oakland-based artists Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello (previously), the playful, subversive project was installed in July 2019 between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez and physically connected the two communities despite the 20-foot barrier. The prestigious, annual award comes from London’s Design Museum.

Rael and San Fratello spent a decade working on “Teeter-Totter Wall” before its installation at the border during a particularly divisive time under the Trump administration. Although it was in use for less than an hour, the interactive work intended to foster and display unity between children and adults from both countries as they physically lifted each other up. In response to the administration separating families at the border, Rael wrote about the project:

The teeter-totters represented the kind of balance necessary for any two people, two nations, to achieve equality, with the understanding that the actions on one side have direct consequences on the other. The teeter-totter is the physical manifestation of the Golden Rule—treat others as you would like others to treat you—a maxim that is shared by all cultures and religions. To experience joy on a teeter-totter, you must allow the other person to experience joy as well.

Among the other winners are a 3D rendering of SARS-CoV-2 by Alissa Eckert and Dan Higgins for the CDC and Social Design Collaborative’s “ModSkool,” a moveable building that can be easily assembled and taken down in response to evictions of farming communities in India. Check out all the top designs through the museum’s virtual exhibition that runs until March 28, and head to Rael San Fratello’s site and Instagram to see more of the duo’s socially minded projects.

 

 

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Design

Lively Interventions by 100 Architects Transform Urban Spaces into Vibrant Playgrounds

Walk around Shanghai or Dubai, and you might stumble upon a bright, geometric playground amongst the concrete. The design studio 100 Architects installs bold interventions that transform typical urban spaces into colorful playgrounds. Each public structure, which boasts entertainment for both kids and adults, is conceptualized around a theme, whether a massive shower complete with ground-level waves or an illuminated castle with inner tunnels. Splashes of color, playground equipment like swings and slides, and towering structures frame the areas, while some spaces, like the “Sea Horse,” sprinkle water from a central spot.

100 Architects recently partnered with urban planning group Playgones to collaborate on a range of interventions throughout Europe in upcoming months, which you can follow on Instagram. (via Journal du Design)

 

Amazing Art Design

Neighboring Communities Playfully Connect Atop Neon Pink Teetertotters Slotted Through the U.S.-Mexico Border Wall

Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello have long worked in activating structures in projects that blur the line between art and architecture. The Oakland-based duo, who self-describe as pursuing “applied architectural research”, also have a longstanding interest in the United States-Mexico border wall. In 2009 Rael wrote Borderwall as Architecture, which features a conceptual drawing of a teetertotter. The concept relocates the classic playground equipment to the border wall as its fulcrum. Ten years later, this cover art came to life in the neighboring communities of Sunland Park, New Mexico and Colonia Anapra, Mexico.

Constructed by Taller Herrería in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, neon pink teetertotters slot through the wall’s narrow gaps, allowing citizens on both sides to playfully engage with their cross-border counterparts. The fundamental design of the teetertotter, while delightful and chuckle-inducing, also functions by each user literally feeling the weight of humanity of the person on the other side. In an Instagram post announcing the project Rael shared, “children and adults were connected in meaningful ways on both sides with the recognition that the actions that take place on one side have a direct consequence on the other side.”

Rael and San Fratello worked in collaboration with Omar Rios to execute “Teetertotter Walls.” Rael is a Professor of Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley and San Fratello is an Assistant Professor at San José State University. Dive into an archive of nearly twenty years of the duo’s socially engaged work on their website, and follow along with their latest projects on Instagram.

 

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A post shared by Ronald Rael (@rrael) on Jul 28, 2019 at 11:22pm PDT

Design

Minimalist Modular Systems Turn Walls Into Feline Playgrounds

Mike Wilson and Megan Hanneman, founders of CatastrophiCreations, design modular wall-mounted systems to keep cats active. Parents of humans and pets alike (myself included) are all too familiar with the trip hazard of toys scattered on the floor. Wilson and Hanneman move the activity zone to the wall with vertical playgrounds that allow cats to climb, jump, scratch, and even tip-toe across swinging bridges. Eschewing bright colors and plastic materials, the designers use solid wood, hidden brackets, and canvas to create more subtle and sustainable products. You can learn more about the the Grand Rapids, Michigan-based business in an interview and factory tour on Etsy’s blog. Check out their range of products, from the Thunderdome to the Temple Complex, in their online store.