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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHandout, Landscape Architecture article The Art of Playground Design~ ~ ~ ~~ ~;~ ~ ~.. ~',~~ ~ ^~>-'- ~, ~ f ~ .e ~ ---~:•:; ~ . ~ ~+'t~• . ~: \ F ' ..~y 'y .~+ ~ ~ '~`. ~•~ . ~ . ~- y ' T' ' ! ~'' z.~ " ~~ v _ A; .. 1' '_e. , . , '~ ~;; 4, - ; y ~_ ,,~.; ~ y,. • .._ <.• t ~ ~`~ ~': ~E ~~;':.: ..~~~~1~~`'_ • t:~ :', . . .J ~~ N~ ~~ ~ - \ •3' __ - ~` f ~~~ ~tlY~. ~" ~~.. ~ ~ `~ ~'; ~ ~..: , _ ` ~i ~"~~ '~,~'`y- . ~~r~ ~;~~ . ~~ ~'' . . ~ ~:.~~~~ ~. ~ ~:.s r~; .,,~, ;- ~ -~-~ rl~> _ ,-..~- y~'~ { `.. ~~ •=,,'~~~a~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ _~ "~5~~~~ ~ _~~~ „/p°~~ i ~ ~ .~~~ ~~ t• y' "'`f = ~ r`:R ~~~ ~~i ta ~„~ ~ :; ~~-~~,~~- ~~r ~ i ~ pr~, ~ ~ , ,~'t f ~ -~.~~~~-~ ` + ~~~. ^ ~i'" -~~~` ~ ~ , l`R ` / ~ ~~ .. ` - .~ ~~ ti ~~ '-~ ~' T:~~~~ --`~. ~ • ~ ~ _ ¢. e+ . '- -earfyy' °`t~ ~--'- _.a~,•-rsr~.--~ ~~v~a ~~- i:i- . ~ _ _~ ~ - ..~ 01_.y ~ .,~ - .~~~~-~ . ~ ~~~ ~~ ~ .~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ,,s ~ _ ~ - .~ ~-~ ~ ~ ~~, a ~.. ~ ~ `~~.,. ~ _ - ~ ~ . ,. ~:: `.*',~`>~. ~ ~ .~,", ' `~ ~ `~~~ , y ~ j ~ ~ " ~ _'~~~~~ ~ ` ~--i,~,. ~ . , '` _ --- 's ~ _ .,~r~yi~~ :~ ~„__ s ` / ' ~ ~..~V-'~.e:9~ ~~~ i . . . ~ ~(+' ~ ~ ~ ~ _~ ~~ . ~ 1 • ~ ~ ~~~~ ~~ ~ i ~ f ~9 ~ . . : 1 -s ~•, j i j y ~ '' ~ m, ~ . , . f'":~ t~ _ ; 5 a ~ , f ~ ~ ~ _ ~ '~' ~ ~ ~ :~:'-: or che past several decades, che incorporation of art has been an aftetthought in American park design, in favor of more recreacion- orienced needs. "Now there seems to be an interest in taking a more holiscic look at parks-what they need to be and how att can become a more incegral part of the de- sign process," says Rob Laycon, ASLA, of Design Concepts in Lafayette, Colorado. Funding has also been an issue. "A lo~ of the mechanisms for getting art into parks came from different funding systems. It wasn'~ built into the original budget," says Layton. "We try to integrate art into pro- gram features chat are already funded, such as rurning a playground inco a wock of art. "It is a way of thinking that builds on it- self. Once people start co see what you are able co accomplish chey are willing to go a step funher the next time," says Layton. Att in Public Places grancs have become more common, ensuring more readily available funding and making ic more feasible ro bring artists on board during the design process. Design Concepts has collaborated with laal artiscs on several of its recenc parks The Art of Playground Design By integrating artists into the design process, landscape architects turn park and playground design into an art fOYl72. BY HEATHER HAMMATT, ASLA projects, working together in a creative process inspired by ~he existing landscape and che "poetry" found in nacure. "Ic is not abouc ~he art. It is abouc che place. 'The art is a conneccion and a supporC," says An- drew Dufford of Arescapes LLC in Denver. "Whac we can ofEer as an artist is to look at the poecics of the place, che imagery, =.- :;~ 'f_t;~. ;~t~~= - adding another layer," says Dufford. "We are there [with the project) from poetic in- spiration all the way through to finished conscruccion. The process is Eluid, which is a huge liberty that is hard to find in con- temporary construction." escled in che Eoochills of the Rocky Mounrains and home to the Universiry of Colorado, che town of Boulder attracts a physically active, artistic, environmen~ally mind- ed, and rather transient populacion. However, quiet residencial neighbor- hoods racliace ouc from the ciry's epicen- ter, beyond che pulse and activity of che Integrating art into program features like thls iron tence (left) and the climbing boulder designed by Mono- Iithic Sculptures, Inc., shown above (behind the catalog play structure) tums the playground into a work of art, drawing from the natural beauty of the surrounding foothills. d _ U a 0 W ~ U Artists with Artscapes enliven a 47-plot community garden, top, with custom- designed fencing, stylistic vegetable cutouts, above, and a four~uadrant logo, r/ghi, representing "earth, water, air, and energy" that further personalize the park. campus and the popular downtown area with its entertaining fusion of food, drink, shopping, and street pertormers. In one such neighborhood, located in north Botilder, a piece of former farmland provided the site for whac is now the Foothills Community Park. A popular landing area for paragliders and hang glid- ers, who launch their craft from the foochills above, che sice was vacant for 20 years. According to Maureen Spitzer, proj- ect manager for the ciry of Boulder, the site was purchased for development as a com- munity park in the late 1980s. It had the attraction of being minimally subdivided and being located up against an area of open space owned by the ciry. ~~ ~~ ~ '°°'~~ ~~ The beaury of the natural landscape that provides che backdrop for the Foochills community inspired che Design Concepts team to embrace the theme of "forces of narure-earth, water, air, and energy" as the building blocks for their park design, Residents of Boulder are known for their commitment to che outdoors and co preservation of the natural environment. One-third of the 69-acre park has been re- stored as nacural grassland, preserving both the natural ecosystem and a natural landing pad for aerial sport enchusiascs. The park as a whole has a rural or suburban aura, as iF it were just an extension of the private propercies that surround it. Pro- gram elements, which take form as a 47- plot communiry garden, two in-line skate rinks, a series of playing fields, and two structured playground areas, blend seam- lessly with the surrounding community, creating a universal "backyard" feeling. The individual elements found in Foothills Park are carefully chosen to per- pe~ua~e che community's desire to preserve and celebrate the natural elemencs. It is the way these common elements are woven co- gether with aniscic license that creaces a sense of community identity and owner- ship. The design team at Design Concepts was introduced to the arcisrs at Arescapes through their client, the Ciry of Boulder, which was looking to incegrate elements of art into the Foothills Park design as part of their one-percenc funding for public art initiative. The city had worked with Arescapes in the past, incorporating att in- to the design of a greenway that nuLS along Boulder Creek. "The northern edge of Foochills Park connects to that tributary greenway, and it made sense to use the same artists. We liked their style and thought it went well with the natural landscape," says Spitzer. "Rob's folks identified the theme, and we came in to develop images and forms that reinforced chat theme,° says Dufford. Artscapes developed a logo for Foothills Park, with four quadrants representing earth, water, air, and energy. The logo LandscapeArchitecture I 32 I JANUARY 2002 appears throughour the park's design with the same geographic orientation, serving as an identifier and as a locator map, of sorrs, for the park's layout, which concains different spaces related to the park's theme, such as a solar plaza and a water channel, within che community garden. "The park will be parrially irrigated with dicch water [except for the community garden]," says Spiczer. "Dicch water is also used in the crickle channel thac drops be~ween levels in che communiry garden." The overall design of Foothills Park is exemplary of Design Concepts' sensitivity to the changing trends in recreation. "Any- thing having co do with skating has been considered a fad, but thac percepcion is changing," says Iayton. Providing facili- ties for in-line skacing vies for both space and money in the design of a park. De- signers may save money and futute main- tenance by providing designated areas for che inevicable. "As {new sports} become more important pares of recreation, they become more cencral co che design process,° says Layton. "Cominunity gardens, skate rinl:s, and athletic fields were the main features of the first phase. The nexc phase will have a much larger playground in it,° says Lay- ton. There will also be a series oFlengthy bicycle pachs and a larger nacive restored k ~ ~ ~ ~ • ~ _ 2 ; - . ~~ :{ .; '~ ~ ~d ~. ``-' ~ _~ , F^ ~` \\ \J , ~ _ ._ ' ~ ;~' ~ -~!- _ ~i- ~' u F , ' - - .. ~~'~,A . ~: • _ ,. ~~. ~3~~~ ~T> . ~'' ~ ' - ; ~. ~ ~ ; ~,~ ,~ ~ ~~~ ~_~ . Fourteen-foot-high retaining walls that could have been cold and overbearing take on personality with the addition of texture and rellef (above). Selow, a Stoneheng~like water feature provides year-round lnterest. area, according ~o Spiczer. At leasc one- third of the site will be retained or re- vegetaced native grasses. The firsc phase of the 69-acre pack, which cook four years, came in at approximately $5 million, funded in pan by a combination of per- manenc park and recreacion funds, lottery funds, and a cicizen-supported bond issue. Phase two of design development is cur- rently under way. ';; he distant snow-capped peaks of che Rocky Mountains provide a scenic r. backdrop for Westlands Park in Greenwood V llage, Colorado, a suburb of Denver. The 12-acre communiry park has a corpora~e, well-manicured appearance ~hat echces wich the sound of children laughing. Design Concepcs crea~ed rhe si~e as a"park for all seasona," which encom~asses not orily che seasons of che year buc also che seasons of ~~ W~~Y ` 4` f •` \ ' 4~ M ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ f~ :. ~~ . ~ ~ ~:' ~ ~ _ , ~ :~,;.; ~_ Ea ~."L~• ~~!.~ ~L.. i~'.5'AY -~ - -' -'' ~ ~ ~ i ~ ~---. - •~~ _ _ ,:~.., . --•g, .SY aa,~ ~ y . t _ '~ ~ <_. _ ~ ~' ~ ~ "v ~ ~- ~ r ~ _, ~~ . `~ ~rY.r.'' de= ~, } ~' . j r : ~~~ ~ I~ ' ..r;~ ~L.~ l ~ _. .l~~'- ~ "~ ~ . ~ ; y ~ ~ ` _ ; r ~ - ^ . ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ,~ ~ . F` , ,"- - .~J. ~ ~ ~ ~` i ' -~ ~ , ~µ'~ _ ~~ ar~ . '.~. • . "4` _ ~ . -R ~ ` `; ~ + ~r ~. `=i ~ ~ YAy. .~,~ ^^S~, _ . '~. r ~K "' :~...._ , .. ,. ~~3yY~y-.~`i-a?,F,.~.. ~` ~ 1~/~Q.: ~ 1 s~.r ~ ~r ~f ` y x !rM' ~ ~ ; y « ~.~ ~ ~ i ~/~4p: y _ rJC~ ~ '!._ . ~«,,>! ~.`.i-. . . . ~ll,~,* ,~, iq~';. . ~- ;.~ .~t. ~ ti iL ~ a.. ~ ~ ~'i;,.w + ~ ~;Y~ ~~'.~ y~ rU ~r ~ 1 t ~ '`r t .1~ FS .' • ~ • ~,J. L~~~. ~,y~'~ i..l•;,~'~ l~~Yc ^ ~ -- _ C~es~ ~ life. According to Iaycon, ideas for the park's design came from Greenwood Village's Parks, Trails, and Recreation Board and from public workshops. "Parents and kids got a chance to build models, draw pictiu~es, and have a say in what they wan~ed to see in the playground featiu-es. A loc of che design c~me from thac process," says I.ayton. A 15-fooc slide offers speedy encry to the park's main playground area, which can also be accessed by a more conven- tional set of stairs locaced nearby for the less adventurous. Westlands Park features two one-of-a-kind climbing sculptures de- signed by Monoli~hic Sculptures, Inc., of Denver. The more advanced of the two is a freestanding stn~cture in the shape of a boulder held by two gianc hands. The sec- ond climbing sculpture is designed as a tree with spreading branches, espaliered againsc a wall in the main playground area. Those wich less climbing skill can scramble around on ~he exposed roots, while those with more expertise can make their way up into the branches. The tree motif correlates wirh imagery designed for Westlands Park by artists at Artscapes. Monolithic began by carving the sculp- cures out of Styrofoam. The forms were ~hen covered with gunice, or shoccrere, then sculp~ed and treated or stained with color, according ~o Layton. AfCer working with Artscapes on the de- sign of phase one for Foothills Park, De- sign Concepts brought the artists on boatd ing forms (top and below), while an ac- varrtage polnts from which to expe- ~. ~- _ to collaborate on the design of Westlands Park. The problem presented to Artscapes a~ Westlands Park was relatively function- al. The site design required several hundred feet of 14-foot-high retaining walls, which could have been cold and overbearing. Artscapes chose to play on che changing history of the site, from cottonwood forest to present day. They designed a series of modular panels, depiccing styliscic trees and wildlife, illuscrated with cexcure and relief, to add life to the necessary feature. To create che panels, che arcists designed and conscructed molds ~ of oriented scrand board and ;~`~ polysryrene, with lacex, sand- blasted plywood, and ocher ma- ,+ ~; ~° ~~ ,x. terials for added texture. Each tl ,~n,,. ,~ ~ ~ panel was designed so that 150 ~ '~~ ~ 4 ry feec of wall could be poured at a ) ` 1 ~ ; cime. Juxcaposition of che differ- . ent panels was then planned to ~~'~ ~ create variery in ~he finished sur- F; ~, F~ce imagery. "We bring a fiinky ~~ sensibiliry co che design through ` fi~ ~ where we find materials and the process by which we conscruct che finished pralucc. The process is all nonstandard,° says Ihifford. "Things that are impossible to specify on a working drawing ~ue possible {for an arcis~ who is involved in constructing the fin- ished product}. You make deci- sions in process. There is a level of craft that we bring to a pmj- ect, differenc chan when you have to subconcract someching D ff d " - ` ~ or . in a generic way, says u " ~ Because (Continued on Page 82) LandreapeArchilecture I$4 I JANUARY 2002 Design (Continued from Page 34) the work is in re- sponse to a patticular place, it is important to be flexible. We've spent time building a family of subcontractors, because in the end i~ is a conversation between skilled crafrs- people, the materials, and a dream. We use whatever skill is necessary to make the proj- ect sing." There are several things to consider when hiring artist consultants, according to Iayton. One is how to integrate custom playground or art elements into the pub- lic bid process. Because it is generally an open bid process, bidders are offered the option to specify an "or equal" option when dealing with custom elements, which is more complicated than simply specifying something out of a catalog. "It is important for artists to be involved in the bidding process, that they attend pre- bid meetings with contractors and that ~hey aze available for questions," says Lay- ton. "Everyone, including che contractors that build the project, has to understand the project and must be willing to work with artists. (The process] involves a good sense of partnering all around." The design and construction of 12-acre Westlands Pazk, which came in at approxi- mately ~6 million, incorporates many dif- ferent elements to accommodate a variety of activicies. In addition to the main play area, there are two multi-use athletic fields and a Planning (Continued from Page 45) more commercial reasons, creating the familiar queasiness of private-public parme~hips. More destruc- tively, Boston University's work to build a new sailing pavilion on the Boston side of the river and Harvard's proposed museum clog- ging ope~ space for Cambridge's Riverside neighborhood have provoked a series of hos- tile commuruty meetings. On the Esplanade, the classic green turf for celebrants, roller-bladers, and boaters, some 200 riverfront residents of the affluent Back Bay and Beacon Hill neighborhoods have begun to add their financial and horti- cultural help to repair the damage of time and the annual stunmer invasion of Hatch Shell visitors. Linda Cox, capresident of the Esplanade Association, traces their slights and successes as she maps our path on a gray and misry aftemoon chat adds a weepy gauze paved activiry pad for in-line skating that can be flooded for ice skating in wintec An interaccive play fountain provides a babbling brook that culnunates in a Stonehenge-like plaza, constructed oE sandstone from Love- land, Colorado, just north of Denver. The plaza comes alive with hidden water jets and a splash pool, which draw a constant strearn of participants. The wacer is left on year- round, forming "ice sculptures" in winter for added seasonat interest. Many of the design's features have dif- ferent functions depending on the season. One that stands out is a universally acces- sible treehouse. Designed with a series of ramps and stairs, the tree-house structure noc only provides much needed shade from the high altitude sunlight but also provides an up-close view of the changing life of a small woodland area. Visitors can experience the cycle of seasonal change by "climbing" up into the tree canopy. "There are a lot of constraints (in park and playground design] with ADA and consumer safery standards, which can be confining. You have to be willing to devote time and energy to get beyond that," says Layton. "It takes a tremendous amount of research and coordination, as well as trial and error, to make that happen." LA ., , Landscape architect and lead de- to the old scatuary. Our stroll offers at once a grand outlook and a depressing near-view, from the pleasanc circuit along che classic pathways to the sight of eroded granire sea- walls and statuary by Archur Shurcliff and his peers, still handsome but abused. "There's no grouting,° Cox observes, point- ing out one 1930s granite overlook. "This is urgent, berause ir's going to be lost," she says as we view yet another crumbling seawall. Our route takes us by the elegant (che quirky charm of Lotte Crabtree's 1939 cat- head fountain) and the injured (wooden docks in disrepair). She notes the patches adopted, planted, and tended by Beacon Hill and Back Bay neighborhood and garden clubs. The front of the Hatch Shell is lined with the summer's remnuit of sweet potato vines and flowers, while the oval space near the Arthur Fiedler footbridge offers prairie LandscapeArchitecture I$2 I JANUARY 2002 signer: Design Concepts, Lafayette, Col- orado. Foothills Park Artists: Artscapes LLC, Denver; Mono- lithic Sculptures, Inc., Denver. General contractor: Environmental Concerns, Inc., Loveland, Colorado. Architect: Dennis Blcemker & Associ- ates, Boulder, Colorado. Engineer: I.oris & Associates, Boulder. Irrigation: Hines Irrigation Consultants, Inc., Fon Collins, Colorado. Fence: Fence Consulting Services, Inc., Wes~minster, Colorado. Westlands Park Artists: Artscapes LI,C, Denver; Mono- lithic Sculptures, Inc., Denver. General contractor: RBI (phase one), Denver; Valley Crest (phase two), Denver. Architect: Aller-Lingle Architeets, Fort Collins. Civii engineer: ADG Engineering, Inc., Englewood, Colorado. Irrigation and water feature: Aqua Engineering, Inc., Fort Collins. Traffic engineer: Felsburg Holt & Ullevig, Englewood. Structural sngineer: Loris & Associ- ates, Boulder. Electrical engineer: Stanley Consul- tants, Englewood. plantings rising high, as if to bring westem offerings to Boston in recum for the east's legacy of che lawn exported to the frontier. Throughout all these master plan proj- ects, the think-~idal, acr-local spirit pre- vails. Find a segment of the Charles and you find fans ready to become advocates: from the Charles River Watershed Associ- ation, the earliest and strongesr supporters who began ~o clean the river more than a generation ago and, with that cleanup, changed the mindset toward it, to the forceful Friends of Magazine Beach; from the newly formed overarching Charles Riv- er Conservancy, to an unnamed but ener- getic band of Watertown neighbors who secured the narrowing of a road in their community. Add to these the politicians prodded by their neighborhoods and you have two million potential users.