We have spaces like Central Park. Why not also Central Playground?

I’ve written before about playful spaces. While I am most definitely interested in play + technology, that interest extends beyond gadgets and toys and objects to physical environments as well. I think some of the most interesting applications of playful technologies will be found in playful spaces.

Play promotes creativity and exploration. It fosters social connection and inhibits the self-censoring adults often engage that limits innovation. In my view, I believe playful spaces can utterly transform how we learn, work, and even interact with our cities.

Though there’s not much in the way of high-tech in the following examples (with one exception), the two links that follow provide a little taste of what might be possible in applying playful design to our environments:

Ring Around a Tree A tree at the Fuji Kindergarten in Japan served as a “place-playmate” for children since before the school was founded. Architects wrapped an inventive structure around the tree capitalizing on freedom of movement as a tool for learning. The project’s name was inpsired by the nursery rhyme Ring Around the Rosy… A pocketful of posies… Interestingly, all the existing classrooms now face a playground at the center of the school, and the ring itself is used as a teaching space without furniture.

A wood and glass volume spiraling upward, enveloping a Japanese Zelkova tree. It’s like a treehouse and a school had a baby.

10 Unusual Playgrounds From Around the World My favorite magazine, mental_floss, has compiled some seriously cool and inventive playground spaces unlike any you may have seen. One incorporates various pieces of technology not unlike an Epcot pavilion. Another is a playground expressly for senior citizens. 

Berlin’s Pruessen Park, nicknamed the “Playground for Grown-Ups.”

ADDENDUM (8/20/2011): More play space goodness — just came across greyworld (via Russel Davies). They describe themselves…

greyworld are a group of artists that create public art — usually in urban spaces.

Our work is about play, and allowing creative expression in parts of the city that usually exclude it. Over the years. we have created permanent installations in many countries around the world.

Many of their installations involve some inventive uses of technology.

(Ring Around a Tree via Bobulate)