http://www.freeplaynetwork.org.uk/design/index.htm
Helle Nebelong is a Danish
landscape architect. Since 1994, she has worked for the city of Copenhagen
covering project development, policy making and public consultation in relation
to roads and parks, urban design and planning. Since 1990, she has run a
private practice that specializes in the design of green spaces for young
disabled people.
Further information is
available at http://www.sansehaver.dk/.
PLAYLINK would like to thank Helle for allowing us to use her inspirational key
note speech and photographs.
Thank you very much for
inviting me here today to speak at this important conference. I am very
delighted to be here.
I could speak for several
hours about all the exiting spaces for children in Copenhagen and the
philosophy and policies behind it.
Unfortunately the time
available won't permit that, but I will show you lots of pictures of four
public play areas, which are very different. I hope in this way to inspire you
in your work with children, in whatever capacity.
The first one is
Murergaarden which is a small playground in an integrated institution: nursery
school, kindergarten and after school club in one. This little space is located
in a rough residential area. In this case we had an excellent interaction
between the leaders of the kindergartens in Copenhagen.
The second one called The
Nature Playground in Valbyparken is a so-called "manned playground",
that is supervised during the day by a qualified adult. This 20.000 m2 playground
is located in Valbyparken which is the largest public park in Copenhagen.
At last I will mention two
other spaces for children called The Garden of Senses and The Children's
Millennium Garden. The Millennium Garden was designed by a school class. I have
chosen these four very different spaces to show you that there are many
different ways to design spaces for children.
I'm very enthusiastic about
designing play areas for children. As I've grown up I've realised that
children's world of imagination is far from the adults. They sometimes speak
languages, we don't understand. We approach children with our grownup ideas,
and even though one hopes to incorporate the desires of the children, one is
sometimes left to wonder if it isn't subsequently the adults own presumptions
on what the children want, that is used in building play areas.
The public playground is an
important framework for children's experiences. It is the stage, where they
rehearse different roles and find their own identities through meeting others.
The playground's scenery and properties can therefore have a big influence on
the quality of the playtime.
Today there are in total
129 public playgrounds in the City of Copenhagen. In addition there are all the
school and institution play areas.
During the last few years
many playgrounds have been renovated. There has been a change in style in the
formation of these playgrounds. There is more emphasis on nature and less
pre-fabrication.
When we renovate public
playgrounds and ask the local residents what they want for their play area the
answer today is equipment from nature. I think this is a reaction to decades of
use of standardized and unimaginative playground equipment. When using
materials from nature, themes are introduced, but it is the children, with
their own imagination, who give colour to their play and bring things to life.
It is not just a trend.
Studies show us again and again, what we have thought for a long time, that
children are healthier when they go outside and play in natural surroundings.
It sharpens their concentration, it is a necessary development in the maturing
process in preparation for school, where they must be able to sit still and
listen and learn. Their muscular development is strengthened and the children
are ill less often and more socially developed.
The public playgrounds are
used a lot and the need is enormous. This is shown by the wear and tear, which
is so massive that any one playground can only function for between 5 and 10
years, before it needs to be renovated. On the positive side, this gives the
possibility to try out new ideas and ensure that the playgrounds do not become
static and uniform. But the quality of the playgrounds can only be assured with
political backing.
The pre-fabricated
playground tries to live 100% up to safety standards. These standards
developed, based on horror stories of real, tragic accidents. Although these
are guidelines and as such are useful, when combined with common sense, they
have, in my opinion, been allowed to go too far. The child's real need for play
and development is set aside with good intentions.
I am convinced that
standardized playgrounds are dangerous, just in another way: When the distance
between all the rungs in a climbing net or a ladder is exactly the same, the
child has no need to concentrate on where he puts his feet. Standardization is
dangerous because play becomes simplified and the child does not have to worry
about his movements.
This lesson cannot be
carried over to all the knobby and asymmetrical forms, with which one is
confronted throughout life. The ability to concentrate on f. ex. estimating
distance, height and risk, requires a lot of practice and is necessary for a
person to be able to cope successfully with life. The focus on safety is
essential but must not lead one to forget to care about design and atmosphere
and make one buy the boring play equipment because it is easy and secure.
When designing play spaces
for children there are one thing apart from economics, which is essential and
that is genius loci, the spirit of the place, in other words the qualities and
the atmosphere already present. This can be a part of a building, a tree with
character, something that happened at the place, an old sculpture or something
else. Genius loci are an important starting point and can be the approach to
decide the design of a new space.
The
first play area I want to tell about is Murergaarden - an integrated
institution in Norrebro.
The
institution has 64 children aged 0-6 and one hundred children aged 7-14. The
play area is only 1.050 m2. It was split up earlier into two separate
playgrounds. As you can see at the picture there was a fence between them and a
difference in the levels of at least 2 m. In some way this difference in level
was part of the genius loci.
The old playground
from the 70's was completely run down. The local authorities decided in 1996 to
hold a theme day on playgrounds for the leaders of institutions for children in
Copenhagen. The employees of the institutions were briefed to put forward their
ideas for the "perfect" playground. It was stressed right from the
start, that there would not be the usual economic speculations - it should be
imagination alone, supported by pedagogical arguments, which would decide the
final suggestion for a playground.
Although
the developing process was purely made by the adults the ideas for the perfect
playground came from listening to the children's preferences and wishes for the
play area.
It was
my job to collate the many suggestions and, on the basis of these, design a new
playground for Murergaarden.
The result was a
little organically shaped oasis, which complemented the massive surfaces of the
surrounding buildings. The largest area of the playground is for the use of all
the children, but it is possible to close off a little area for the nursery
kids. They did not want traditional play equipment, but they got a slide
anyway!
The
higher and lower levels have been connected by a terraced slope, which has
become a central feature in the playground.
The
little paddling pool is tarmaced and is connected to a channel and spring on
the upper part of the playground. In the summer a fire-hose is used to fill the
steps with water, which falls down to the paddling pool. It takes a couple of
hours to fill it. The water is then turned off and allowed to stay in the pool
until it is emptied in the evening. The pool is encircled by a willow copse,
and Butterfly bushes have been planted and perennial flowers, which attract
butterflies and other insects. There are many details: it is the little wonders
that counts!
At the
beginning there were many reservations about the new playground. Parents said
that it was dangerous with all the big stones. The employees of the institution
said the space was just too boring. But the children love the space.
The
playground has now been in existence for more than 4 years. Not one child has
been hurt seriously. The parents now say, that the children are happier when
they come home. The leader of the institution says that there are fewer
conflicts in the playground. They are really happy with the playground,
especially with the water. A constructive debate has arisen between parents and
employees in the institution about how far one can protect a child and try to
prevent him from coming to harm.
The second play space is the Nature playground
in Valbyparken. Valbyparken is the biggest park in Copenhagen. During the past
8 years it has been totally renovated. Areas have been laid out with water
holes, meadows of wild flowers and hills and in 1996, when Copenhagen was the
European Culture City, 17 circular theme gardens were constructed. One of which
became the Millennium Garden, which I will tell you about later on.
During the past 4 years a
20.000 m2 playground has been under construction using people from the
unemployed project. As Valbyparken is an old rubbish dumping area, the
environmental authorities demanded that ½ meter of earth must be removed from
the whole area and replaced by new, clean earth. The rubbish dump earth must
not be removed from Valbyparken and it has therefore been built into a row of
hills, which separate the playground from the rest of the park.
At one of my first sketches
you can see the most important elements which are:
The original woodland, the new hills and the
wide stretch of meadow outside the playground.
The plan is made up of
organically formed elements: A large area with sand and gravel, small green
islands, winding paths, a village of woven willow huts and plaited fences, an
area with wild flowers and a very big snail-shaped mound with a path spiralling
up it to a look-out point. The whole playground is pulled together by a
circular 210 m wooden bridge. The planks in the bridge are from the many elm
trees, felled in Copenhagen due to Dutch elm disease.
For this playground I worked really well
together with four incredibly enthusiastic students from Denmark's Design
School. They designed six towers which are placed as precise points at the
large circular bridge, which pull together the whole organically shaped space.
Each tower has its own theme: The Water's Tower, The Light's Tower, The Wind's
Tower, The Green tower, The Birds Tower and The Tower of Change.
It is often the quite simple
things, which awaken a child's curiosity. If everything is not the same and
predictable, a child's fantasy is sharpened and if the challenges are there, he
will practise climbing up into complicated, twisted trees, throwing small
stones at targets and jumping from one big stone to another; children
experience and are in a small way getting a little better at everything all the
time. This naturally gives self-confidence and courage. One grows and dares to
meet new challenges.
It is important that children
be allowed to find out the nature of things by themselves. Everything should
not be explained, demystified, beforehand. There must be time for the child to
linger mentally over things and to develop at his own speed. The child's being
must be stimulated qualitatively by good materials and a superior, cohesive
structure.
One special part of the planning of outdoor
areas for children concerns the use or non-use of colours in a playground. In
my opinion, colour should be used carefully and in small splashes.
I think it is an adult
idea, created by misunderstanding, that everything to do with children must be
openly amusing and painted in bright colours. A child's day is already full to
bursting with colours and moving images from the colourful interior of the day
care centre, from hours in front of the television and computer screen at home
and when out shopping in the supermarket. Children need to be able to relax
their eyes and their minds when they come outside. Nature's own colours are
perfect for the playground, maybe spiced up here and there with a few artistic
colour splashes. The Tower of Light is a good example. From outside it doesn't
look colourful but if you step inside the tower you get astonished to see all
the light and colours.
It has been my ambition to
design a playground that would become a good alternative to the many commercial
amusement parks, which are appearing everywhere.
The playground is also a
favorite place for all nursery kindergartens, schools and after school clubs,
who visit it on day trips.
The third play area I want
to tell about is the Garden of Senses in Faelledparken. It is an example of an
accessible space for children with disabilities.
Previously it was an old, run down playground
or you could say a big asphalt dessert which needed total renovation.
I designed a garden, which
should be like a maze with winding paths, leading the visitor past many
different experiences.
There are several Wonder Spaces with Tangible
Sculptures - one sculpture to each of our senses. There are Crossings, a
Riverside Scenery with rocks and a Lake Scenery without water, a Lavender
Island, a Maze of stakes. A Bamboo shrub, a small Garden of Fragrance with a
fountain, prickly evergreens, shrubbery with old, crumbling sculptures, a
Pavilion Garden, a grove of Chinese temple trees, a Butterfly Garden and a lot
of other elements to discover.
I went round Copenhagen's
material yards and found a lot of usably leftover materials, which each
contained a part of history: Old paving tiles from the Town Hall Square,
granite blocks from an old bridge, sculptures from The Norrebro Park - all of
them just right for a garden of senses!
The sketches became working
drawings and the construction work got under way.
The Garden of Senses was
opened in 1996. The six sculptures of the senses were wrapped up in colourful
fabric and the children helped the park manager to unwrap them: The Sense of
Touch, The Sense of Fragrance, The Sense of Taste, The Sense of Vision and The
Sense of Hearing.
The sculptures were made by a group of young
artists and they decided themselves to create a sixth sculpture, The 6th Sense
Gateway. Seen from outside, it is all quite anonymous, but if you go through
the gate and turn around, you will see all the religious symbols of the world.
The idea behind the Garden
of Senses is to give children a glimpse of the richness of nature, in order to
awaken their interest, help them to learn about nature and to respect it.
The first Gardens of Senses
were created in connection with homes for children and young people with
multiple disabilities, who were unable to go out and experience
"real" nature. These gardens are usually small plots just outside the
doors of their homes.
The Garden of Senses in
Faelledparken is the largest in Denmark and was the first to be open to the
general public. It has been designed to be explored and enjoyed by adults and
children of all ages. If you open your eyes, prick up your ears, widen your
nostrils and give full rein to your curiosity, you will experience a garden
full of surprises, where you can make use of all your senses.
There is a wide variety of
plants here: some have sweet and spicy scents. Others display beautiful colours
or exotically shaped flowers and leaves;
The Garden of Senses has
become popular and has many visitors. Many blind and handicapped people also
visit and use the garden. Children of all ages come and train - although they
do not realize it - their mobility and concentration.
A bronze alphabet has been
attached in the maze, so that one can spell from the first to the last.
The garden is full of contrasts. The stones are
also varied: rough and smooth; round and angular; big rocks for climbing, small
stones that rattle in your hand; There are lots of surprises.
An experience in itself is
the sight of Hercules and the goddesses surrounded by all the greenery. This
old sculpture group used to stand in the Norrebro Park in Copenhagen, but it
was vandalized so it was taken down and declared unsuitable to be reinstated.
In the Garden of Senses it doesn't matter if the sculpture is missing a
nose-tip and half an arm, so now the sculpture group has been reinstated to be
honored and valued. Decay is suddenly beautiful and mystical in this green
setting.