Book Review: American Playgrounds
American Playgrounds: Revitalizing Community Space, by Susan G. Solomon, published by University Press of New England, 2005. (Amazon)
Having worked on public schools, I have seen firsthand how playgrounds are typically an afterthought. Admittedly an important element within the child's daily experience, they are usually off-the-shelf, plastic monstrosities exhibiting little creativity or relationship to the school and community. This disappointing state of affairs may have been one of the impetuses for Susan G. Solomon's American Playgrounds. As its subtitle suggests, she focuses not so much on playground design but on its role in community space. The book is split into two halves: past and present. In the first section she describes the descent into the current situation but also recounts successful playgrounds, most notably Aldo van Eyck's mid-20th-century Amsterdam interventions and an unfortunately unbuilt collaboration between Isamu Noguchi and Louis I. Kahn. Unfortunately most of the projects in the second half of the book aren't as inspiring as those in the first, owing to a pervasive detail-oriented emphasis over a holistic point of view. While architects, landscape architects, artists, and other designers are attempting to improve community space through their projects, this consideration would come across stronger if the book's case studies were illustrated better. Solomon's verbal descriptions try to do justice to what the visuals lack. Nevertheless, the book fills a surprisingly open void in discussions about children, play, and community space. Here's hoping it achieves some of its intended effect, to not only influence those that design these environments but the clients and jurisdictions that make them happen.
Having worked on public schools, I have seen firsthand how playgrounds are typically an afterthought. Admittedly an important element within the child's daily experience, they are usually off-the-shelf, plastic monstrosities exhibiting little creativity or relationship to the school and community. This disappointing state of affairs may have been one of the impetuses for Susan G. Solomon's American Playgrounds. As its subtitle suggests, she focuses not so much on playground design but on its role in community space. The book is split into two halves: past and present. In the first section she describes the descent into the current situation but also recounts successful playgrounds, most notably Aldo van Eyck's mid-20th-century Amsterdam interventions and an unfortunately unbuilt collaboration between Isamu Noguchi and Louis I. Kahn. Unfortunately most of the projects in the second half of the book aren't as inspiring as those in the first, owing to a pervasive detail-oriented emphasis over a holistic point of view. While architects, landscape architects, artists, and other designers are attempting to improve community space through their projects, this consideration would come across stronger if the book's case studies were illustrated better. Solomon's verbal descriptions try to do justice to what the visuals lack. Nevertheless, the book fills a surprisingly open void in discussions about children, play, and community space. Here's hoping it achieves some of its intended effect, to not only influence those that design these environments but the clients and jurisdictions that make them happen.
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