Beginning on June 8, the Boston Society of Architects' BSA Space on Congress Street will exhibit what organizers describe as "more than 40 pioneering playscapes from around the world."
These ain't your childhood jungle gyms or curvy slides, and that's kind of the point. They are meant to reflect not only the latest thinking in playground design, but the so-called free play movement, a push to get kids outdoors and running around (sad there has to be a movement to do that, eh?). To that end, exhibits will include a "scrapped ambulance" reimagined as a playground at a Malawi hospital; examples of how the Danes design playgrounds to integrate nature with said play; and play-centered constructs happening closer to home, on the Boston waterfront.
Most fun of all, there will be playable installations and video games as part of what's being billed as "Extraordinary Playscapes." The Design Museum Foundation is curating and the exhibition runs through Sept. 8.
- Extraordinary Playscapes [BSA Space and Design Museum Foundation]
- State of Play: How Architects and Designers Are Rethinking America's Playgrounds [Curbed]