Mora Park Playground and Green Battle, Urbanarbolismo, Castell de Guadalest, Spain, 2010

First, Spanish firm Urbanarbolismo generated a great inexpensive design for an unusual site with a serious problem of run-off from the surrounding mountains.  To stay within a small budget of 14500 euro, they reused all existing street furniture, streetlights, benches, swings and slides, coordinating them with eye-popping orange paint that is echoed in the splashes of new safety surfacing.  To deal with the water, all of the park slopes converge towards the central zone, where soil awaited planting. And then how to plant the space? 

Wanting to encourage community involvement, Urbanarbolismo staged a "Green Battle" in which about 200 people threw seed-containing mud balls at each other until the battlefield/site (and themselves) were completely covered.  Seeds included a grass to green the space quickly and native species such as thyme and heather to add permanent color and aroma to the playscape.  

Playful installation...playful site!  I'm so going to make my youth group do this next time something needs planting.  Just add water.

 

Urbanarbolismo also has an award-winning strategy for using the 'la batalla verde' events to green-up public spaces, and you can send them a photo of your own tree and they will design a dream treehouse for it!