This thoughtful, thought-provoking guide approaches playground design from a logical but often-overlooked starting pointâ€”the child. All too often, play facilities are designed for the benefit

Design for Play

This thoughtful, thought-provoking guide approaches playground design from a logical but often-overlooked starting pointâ€”the child. All too often, play facilities are designed for the benefit of those who build and maintain them rather than those who use them. Design for Play begins with an examination of what play isâ€”a learning processâ€”and shows that the typical playground, a sterile expanse of asphalt relieved only by steel swings and steep slides, is dangerous not only to children's physical safety but also to their mental and emotional development. This book demonstrates that there are sensible alternatives to the "asphalt-desert" playground.

The criteria for design outlined here are based on the needs of all those who are involved with playgroundsâ€”and on the lessons to be learned from the way children play in the streets of our cities, when they invent their own facilities and create their own play environment. The practical application of these criteria is illustrated and evaluated in the case history of a major playground and in a survey of creative play facilities in the United States and Europe.

Also discussed are the design of playgrounds for handicapped children and a variety of neglected opportunities for play facilities, including rooftops, sidewalks, and barges.

Richard Dattner, an architect, has designed numerous playgrounds, including the highly acclaimed Adventure Playground in New York City's Central Park. A number of these are pictured in this fully illustrated book.
Country USA
Manufacturer The MIT Press
Binding Paperback
EANs 9780262540230
ReleaseDate 0000-00-00

Country	USA
Manufacturer	The MIT Press
Binding	Paperback
EANs	9780262540230
ReleaseDate	0000-00-00

Design for Play

Customers who purchased this also purchased....