Month: February 2017
Micro-Playgrounds: Six Tips for Designing for a Small Space
If increasing urbanization and limited housing stock has led to a wave of micro-units, rooming houses, and residential hotels in spatially constrained cities such as New York and San Francisco, there is a corollary in the world of playgrounds. For lack of a better term: the micro-playground. These compact designs,…
Designer Spotlight: Hitchcock Design Group
One of my favorite places to go for a walk is the Spruce Plot at the Morton Arboretum, outside Chicago. There is a perceptible hush and temperature drop on entering the forest, as though you’ve been transported to another time and place. A grid of towering spruces crowds out the…
Intergenerational Playgrounds Unite the Young and Old
China is believed to have led the way on the development of multigenerational playgrounds, adopting a national law that resulted in a nationwide physical fitness program geared for elderly citizens. The idea took hold quickly. After spreading across Asia and Europe (Spain has more than 600 models), playgrounds for seniors…
Children Want and Need Movement
To Develop Mind and Body, You Have to Move “Since it is through movement that the will realizes itself, we should assist a child in his attempts to put his will into act.”– Maria Montessori (source) A child’s natural approach to learning about their world involves playful movement. We learn…