Jiangyin Sports Park and Shanghai Fengling Park, Robin Armstrong, BAU, 2010

When I visited China a couple of years ago I saw few playgrounds of any sort, much less well-designed ones.  But reader Robin is now working there for Shanghai-based but Australian-born architecture / landscape/urban design office BAU, in an environment that he says allows him more creative scope in playscape design than the West. 

"Jiangyin sports park - The playground company we work with for our custom projects specializes in rope and steel structures, so I tailored my design accordingly, and experimented with some unusual geometries. My goal was to create equipment that is as interesting for adults to explore as observers as it is fun for kids to play in."

"Shanghai Fengling park - For this project I related to the riverside context of the park (adjacent to Suzhou creek) by integrating salvaged freighter ship parts from a nearby ship breaking yard into the design, both as sculptural and functional elements. "
 
 

 
Robin also informed me that 'playscapes' is blocked in China, as are all blogspot blogs, apparently!  Here's hoping for both more playgrounds and more freedom.