If you don't know the play sculpture of Hungarian Pierre Szekely (one of Simon and Tom Bloor's inspirations below), the definitive source is the comprehensive online catalogue assembled and maintained by Pierre Karinthy.
It can difficult to navigate as it includes all of Szekely's work (and he was prolific), but I have extracted the play constructs that I know of--all are located in France--and arranged them in chronological order to show the progression of his playground thoughts. It is particularly interesting to observe how he moves back and forth between round biomorphic forms and sharp, angular geometries...ending up with the monumental Lady of the Lake, the first permanent climbing wall in France, opened in 1975 but now quarantined as 'unsafe'.
Karinthy lists, but has no photos of, play sculptures Pierre designed for disabled children at centers in Brest and Cambrai. I'd love to see these; if you have any information on them, or indeed on any of Szekely's other play works do get in touch; it's a shame there has been no monograph of such interesting ideas. All photos are from Karinthy's site except where otherwise noted.
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| 1957 - Playground
model Petit-Clamart, Hauts de Seine
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| View of the Petit-Clamart playground via the charming blog archipostcard, which celebrates modern architecture as shown in vintage postcards |
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| 1958 - City of Games
L'Hay les Roses, Val de Marne
source: archipostcard
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| 1958 - City of Games
L'Hay les Roses, Val de Marne
source: archipostcard
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| Contemporary view of L'Hay-les-Roses from the great astudejaoublie blog |
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| Contemporary view of L'Hay-les-Roses from the great astudejaoublie blog |
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| 1960 - Circus
Residence Manera, Vaucresson, Hauts de Seine
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| 1960 - Circus
Residence Manera, Vaucresson, Hauts de Seine
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| 1961 - Great form of games Champagne sur Oise Oise (now destroyed) |
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| 1961 - Well the birds
Champagne sur Oise Oise (now destroyed)
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| 1962 - Castle games
Verneuil sur Seine
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| 1962 - Castle games
Verneuil sur Seine
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| 1967 - Universe Games
Grenoble, Isere - restored in 2008
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| 1967 - Universe Games
Grenoble, Isere - restored in 2008
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| 1973 - The Extraterrestrial Massy
Massy, Essonnes
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| 1973 - The Extraterrestrial Massy
Massy, Essonnes
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| 1973 - The Extraterrestrial Massy
Massy, Essonnes
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| 1975 - The Lady of the Lake
Evry, Essonne
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| 1975 - The Lady of the Lake
Evry, Essonne
[source] |
Here is an article by Pierre Szekely from May 1959 in which he talks about the genesis of the Petit Clamart project, using the Stockholm model of playgrounds (sculptures for children and no scolding guardian).
ReplyDeletehttp://j.p.karinthi.free.fr/5701article.htm
Thanks william...I saw this but didn't have time to do a translation. Any chance you'd like to provide one? :-)
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