Play!: A Cultural Perspective on Design of Playgrounds

Mapping the intricate spatial and social networks of urban playgrounds across Rotterdam, and their potential for imaginative design

Urban playgrounds form a vast, intricate spatial and social network. Increasingly designed from standards and regulations, and under pressure in the limited urban space, they tend to disappear into the background. Yet they are also spaces where material innovation happens, that become a stage of new professional collaborations and that carry hidden social, spatial and nature-positive design potential. With photo documentation of over 200 playgrounds across Rotterdam, Play! records and reflects on the accumulated urban environment of play, annotated with insights from interviews with playground makers, designers and urban thinkers. Through local stories, the book draws attention to emerging progressive practices, concepts and ideas, as the beginning of a conversation about possible futures of urban play landscapes.