Climbing frames, arches, igloos, tumbling bars, jumping stones, and climbing walls all found their way into unsightly wastelands and boring squares thanks to the visionary help of architect Aldo van Eyck, who transformed urban spaces in Amsterdam into more than 700 playgrounds between 1947 and 1978. Beyond the sites' spatial designs, van Eyck also developed a whole series of sandpits, climbing frames, and other equipment in his radical, charming recreation of the city into a space for play. This book considers the importance of the playground in general and more specifically within the international postwar developments in city planning. Van Eyck's sources of inspiration, from Kurt Schwitters to Jacoba Mulder, are surveyed. The playgrounds themselves are examined on the basis of how they were received at the time of construction, through letters from neighborhood residents, memoranda by public officials, and the reactions of contemporary architects. A separate essay traces what happened to the playgrounds after 1978, and how van Eyck's ideas resonate in the design practices and spatial planning policy of today.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An overlooked project by an overlooked architect,
By g1bbs "g1bbs" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Aldo Van Eyck: Designing For Children, Playgrounds (Hardcover)
I am so glad that a book was finally written focusing on the 700+ Amsterdam playgrounds of Aldo Van Eyck - an extreemly signifigant and important group of urban small-scale architectural projects that have been, up until this point, largely unrecognized and overlooked for their signifigance and influence. (you all have probably climbed on an Aldo ven Eyck designed junglegym at some point in your lives) The book was written in accordance with an exhibit at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, a museum important to Aldo's theoretical development. It offers a thurough overview of the playgrounds in thier physical, historical, cultural, political, and archtiectural contexts. And...one of the bonus features of this book: there is an impressive collection of before and after photographs of some of the sites around the city. It is impressive that a simple and understated design using simple archtiectural elements such as this, when inserted into a vacant and overlooked lot in an urban context, can completely transform the area into a vibrant center of activity.
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