Industrial and toy designer Cas Holman made an engaging set of loose parts for New York's High Line Park this past summer. Reflecting the industrial history of the area, the collection of wooden planks wheels, pulleys, ringbolts, and rope allow for free assembly and tinkering...the components can be used to convey buckets or materials, or become a giraffe or an airplane or in Cas' words, just a "thingy". Kids like to build thingys, and who's to say what it looks like in their imagination anyway?
Great work by Cas (the kit is patent pending, so I hope it will soon be more widely available!) in conjunction with Early Learning Educators and Friends of the High Line, who are considering more ways of facilitating play withing the High Line landscape.
These are beautiful. I wonder how long these will last before the 'walk off'. Maintaining loose parts in public spaces is a challenge for many of my clients. Even simple sticks and rocks.
ReplyDeleteMichelle
http://thelearninglandscape.blogspot.com
Loose parts can make a playspace but as Michelle says they can be a problem in open spaces. However in schools they can be managed. As for design we leave that to the kids http://bit.ly/ABBMjA see also http://youtu.be/zPXWxcAUQSE
ReplyDelete