The Architecture of Modern Play

Play was increasingly seen as a valuable tool that could hone children's social and educational development and help prevent 'delinquency'. But opinion differed about how this could best be achieved.

In the UK, landscape architect and children's campaigner Marjorie Allen (Lady Allen of Hurtwood) was inspired by the sight of children playing on a bombsite. She campaigned to reimagine these sites as playgrounds, allowing children to reclaim 'junk' as a material with which they could play, build and destroy at will.  

The approach aimed to bring the wilderness of the countryside to children in the city neighbourhoods, by allowing them to embrace these amorphous spaces, unimpeded by design strategies based on ideas about how children 'should' play. 

Junk playgrounds aimed to empower children to make their own choices about risk, free from the interventions of adults. They became an enduring international phenomenon. At least three could be found in New York City in the 1970s. 

The playgrounds were integrated into the surrounding landscape through their materials and monumental forms. Constructed from wood, brick, and mostly concrete, they embodied the architectural style known in England as 'Brutalism'. 

This drawing by Powell and Moya shows the design for the flying saucer, with its steep gradient. 

Goldfinger felt strongly about the importance of outdoor recreation and open spaces. He positioned the boilers at the top of Balfron Tower, freeing up space on the ground for children’s play.  The fitted play space featured a concrete slide.   

The slide is one of the few British post-war play structures that survives today. It is captured here in a 2015 photograph by artist Simon Terrill. 

These Brutalist structures referenced play sculptures such as those by the Japanese-American landscape architect Isamu Noguchi and Danish-Swedish architect Egon Møller-Nielsen, whose Spiral Slide was designed in the 1950s to offer an alternative to the standard swings and slides.

While the 1980s and 1990s saw an increasingly standardised and risk-averse approach to recreation spaces, architects have continued to present fresh approaches to children's play.  

In the past 10 years, there has been a resurgence of interest among contemporary designers in the – mostly demolished – playscapes of the mid-20th century. 

Part sculpture, part architecture, all play: the installation re-examined post-war playscapes from a historical and contemporary perspective, while questioning current attitudes to risk in play.  

Architects continue to recognise play's potential to foster healthy childhood development in the aftermath of trauma. The Let's Play Initiative aims to rebuild six playgrounds that were destroyed by the 2020 explosion in Beirut. 

The spaces feature abstract platforms, canopies and pathways that encourage directionless play. The ambiguous designs are intended to promote experimentation and social interaction, revisiting the play principles once found in 20th century playground design.