Kids enjoying a "looking-glass half-globe sculpture".
playground research berlin
Once the topic was clear and a vague idea of the site had been found, it was time to find a suiting playground. The plan was to find one that fulfilled some requirements, mainly that an enhancement was really necessary:
_ The default playground props: Seasaw, swing, slide, roundabout
- Not a playground which is nice already (to really ensure an enhancement through digital media)
- Ideally a site which has a certain historical or sociological background which could be part of the content
- Maybe find a playground in between two "brandmauern" (windowless walls, remnants of buildings which were destroyed in WWII), which would be a nice projection surface.
The research was very helpful indeed. In any way it was exciting to see the kids playing and enjoying even the simplest "interactive" prob, i.e. this looking-glass half-globe which was found on a playground in Berlin Neukölln. there is nothing to it but its size and surface, it almost looks like a minimal art sculpture and would be out of place anywhere else, but the kids loved it: climbing up, sliding down, seeing themselves in the concave surface etc.
Also an interesting site was the playground in front of the Rüttli Oberschule, also in Berlin Neukölln (The school had some negative publicity, the teachers wrote an open letter, because the circumstances for them had become uncontrollable). So now, after this, the playground is being renovated.
Main outcome of the research was: there is no perfect site for such an installation. Either parts of the playground will not be used, or the system has to be as modular and adjustable as possible.
_ The default playground props: Seasaw, swing, slide, roundabout
- Not a playground which is nice already (to really ensure an enhancement through digital media)
- Ideally a site which has a certain historical or sociological background which could be part of the content
- Maybe find a playground in between two "brandmauern" (windowless walls, remnants of buildings which were destroyed in WWII), which would be a nice projection surface.
The research was very helpful indeed. In any way it was exciting to see the kids playing and enjoying even the simplest "interactive" prob, i.e. this looking-glass half-globe which was found on a playground in Berlin Neukölln. there is nothing to it but its size and surface, it almost looks like a minimal art sculpture and would be out of place anywhere else, but the kids loved it: climbing up, sliding down, seeing themselves in the concave surface etc.
Also an interesting site was the playground in front of the Rüttli Oberschule, also in Berlin Neukölln (The school had some negative publicity, the teachers wrote an open letter, because the circumstances for them had become uncontrollable). So now, after this, the playground is being renovated.
Main outcome of the research was: there is no perfect site for such an installation. Either parts of the playground will not be used, or the system has to be as modular and adjustable as possible.