The Playground Project reconstructs one of the most inventive periods in public space design — the open-air playground movement from the 1950s to the 1980s — tracing how artists, architects, and activists reimagined childhood, cities, and community life simultaneously.
About This Book
First published in 2018 and now substantially expanded, The Playground Project recovers a largely forgotten chapter in design history: the decades when playground design became a site of genuine ideological and spatial experimentation. Burkhalter situates the playground at the intersections of education, architecture, urban politics, and leisure policy — revealing it as a serious arena of public space design, not a footnote. This new edition adds previously unpublished images, new portraits of female protagonists, findings from recent research, and focused chapters on playgrounds in the former German Democratic Republic, Hong Kong's Shek Lei Playground, and Mexico's state-building era. Essential reading for architects, urban designers, and historians of the built environment.
Key Features
- 376 pages of archival photography, newly unpublished images, and historical portraiture
- Author: Gabriela Burkhalter
- Case studies include: playgrounds of the former German Democratic Republic, the Shek Lei Playground in Hong Kong, and playground culture in Mexico
- Published by Park Books, 2018
What You'll Discover
- How playground design from the 1950s to the 1980s functioned as a social laboratory, drawing in artists, landscape designers, architects, and community activists across Europe, America, and beyond
- The forgotten history of playground design in the former German Democratic Republic, examined in dedicated focus
- The role of playgrounds in state-building processes in Mexico, and the culture of memory surrounding the Shek Lei Playground in Hong Kong — both explored by young researchers in newly commissioned contributions
- An incisive introductory essay that places playground design at the crossroads of education theory, urban politics, design history, and leisure policy
About the Author
Gabriela Burkhalter is the author and editor of The Playground Project, a work that has established itself as a key reference in the history of public space design and urban play culture since its first publication in 2018. Further biographical details are not provided in the source materials.
Specifications
- Format: Softcover
- Pages: 376
- Dimensions: 21.49 x 3.3 x 29.79 cm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9783038603504
- Publisher: Park Books
- Publication Date: 2018
Perfect For: Architects, urban designers, landscape architects, design historians, and educators with an interest in public space, play infrastructure, and the social history of the built environment.