Woodthorpe Grange Playground, Keita Takahashi, Nottingham, UK (proposed)

Were Archigram around today, they might be video game designers, whose speculation in virtual reality can lead to equally interesting real-world structures.  So kudos to Nottingham for giving a playground commission to Keita Takahashi, creator of Katamari Damacy and Noby Noby Boy.  (disclaimer: I'm not myself a gamer but am told on good authority that these are AMAZING.)

He's just released (still speculative) sketches and preliminary designs on his blog, with the goal of creating  "something that anyone can play with, kids, adults, dogs. But the way 3 years old kids would play is very different from 5 years old. Besides that, who to play with is also a big element that changes the way they play. For example, they would play more safely with parents, while they would play more adventurously with other kids."

 

 

I've included mostly Keita's sketches here because they're so appealing, but it is interesting to watch their transformation into more concrete design images on his blog...he frankly acknowledges that many of his initial ideas "may be too dangerous"!

While the focus on this blog is often on the landscape of playgrounds, it's still nice to see fresh thinking about its components. [Thanks, Bryant!]