An insider's view of the play culture of other countries and a comparison with the market in Germany.
It is interesting to note that the concept of playing in natural surroundings with natural materials that originated in Germany is taking root elsewhere and is becoming increasingly popular in other countries. This trend is doubtless being promoted by relevant studies that have demonstrated that children's development is improved when they have the opportunity to play in natural surroundings providing them with a high play value and that even expose them to a calculated level of risk.
The sort of nature-based playgrounds recommended in DIN 18034 (the German standard for the planning, construction and operation of playgrounds) that incorporate appropriate features for play and experience, such as site-suitable and self-regenerating plants, rocks, modelled ground surfaces and equipment made of naturally grown wood that harmonise with these surroundings, are not often encountered in Japan. However, it is not difficult to find playgrounds in a large city. There are smaller playgrounds with slides and climbing frames on many street corners. In these playgrounds, the ground is almost always covered with asphalt or rubber fall attenuating surfacing. But a sandpit is a remarkably rare feature. The epithet 'close to nature' is not perhaps one that would be readily applied to Japanese playgrounds. The Japanese make up for this by providing toilets with nappy changing facilities and a drinking water fountain on almost all their play facilities ‒ something we Germans could learn from. Another difference between Germany and Japan can be seen in the behaviour of the parents. For us Germans, they seem overprotective, standing close to the slide or climbing frame and carefully instructing their offspring in what to do.
There are also landmark projects in this country in the form of the 'Playville' concept developed by BØrneLund, a Tokyo-based playground design firm. SIK-Holz has been collaborating with BØrneLund for the past four years. The main characteristic of these play facilities is the symbiosis between the wooden equipment the vegetation and the variations in surfacing within relatively small spaces. A stable green framework of greenery that still needs to grow borders its perimeters and also provides green islands within the space. The children can find here natural materials for unregimented play and, depending on season, can also experience different sensory impressions. A large tree house combination invites older children to climb and slide. The large platforms and various options for getting up and down ensure that ever-divergent play configurations can develop. There is a small playhouse where younger children can indulge in role play and seek refuge. The basket swing, a playground feature that seems to have conquered the world, is just as popular with young Japanese as with German children. The whole space is filled with play sand, thus providing, in combination with a water pump, plenty of scope for happy splashing around and building sand castles. BØrneLund has already created several 'Playvilles' of this kind. All the playgrounds constructed to date were pilot projects that have been followed in Japan with considerable interest. Parents are absolutely delighted by the creativity and inventiveness exhibited by their children when they use these facilities and stand to one side admiring the activities of their little ones. Yet they still need to learn that play with natural elements is more important for the healthy development of their children than teaching them to respect order and cleanliness.
There are limited opportunities to construct play facilities such as this in Japan. In the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, it is indoor playgrounds rather than their outdoor versions that are now particularly in demand and in certain regions of Japan this is unfortunately likely to remain the case. At the same time, SIK-Holz was also able, in collaboration with BØrneLund, to implement interesting concepts in this sector in 2015. The special feature of these multifunctional indoor play areas is the pedagogic philosophy on which they are based. Children and parents are here encouraged to play together, the objective being to improve the relationship between parents and children. The play equipment made of crooked sections of robinia wood that emerges from the brightly coloured ball pits looks like the melancholy ruins of a lost and better world. It is to be hoped that the notion of these indoor play areas will catch on in Japan and that parents and children will thus be helped to come closer together.
But it is not just in Japan where nature is being reintroduced back into the technological environment of cities. Increasing numbers of commercial clients are discovering the advantages of providing play facilities for their customers. It is no longer merely local authorities who construct playgrounds; larger shopping centres also want to make a shopping trip attractive for their little clientele and are now offering more than just indoor play corners but also outdoor facilities. In 2016, there has been a collaboration with Kompan France to build two play sites for the Eurocommercial shopping centre in Chasse-sur-Rhône. Eurocommercial is now one of the most successful property investment concerns in Europe, with a portfolio of shopping centres in France, Italy and Sweden. The invitation to tender for the construction of the play facility in Chasse-sur-Rhône specified only that a play area for children aged 2 - 6 years and another for children aged 6 - 12 years was to be developed on the available site. The investor was suitably impressed by the design and colours of the proposed structure incorporating giant acorns as cabins. Children can use the structure for climbing, sliding and playing hide-and-seek while their parents are shopping.
Apart from such carefully structured playgrounds, there are also many examples in which playground and nature are closely blended together not only in Germany, but particularly also in Scandinavia. Last year, SIK-Holz had the opportunity to work in collaboration with the Norwegian firm Uniqa on an exciting project in Bergen in Norway. Directly overshadowing the town centre is Mt. Fløyen, a popular tourist attraction at 399 metres above sea level. There is an 850 metre funicular railway that links the town centre with the peak of Mt. Fløyen. The wonderful views from the peak over the peninsula mean that it is an attractive destination for tourists and locals alike. There is also a wealth of hiking trails.
Several architects have already contributed to the upgrading of the location that is intended to become Bergen's 'Central Park'. The most recent feature is a large play tower built to a design by SIK-Holz's Managing Director, Klaus-Peter Gust. Bergen's residents have dubbed it the 'golden tower' because there is a golden egg on top of a 6-metre high pedestal. Perhaps the phoenix will hatch from it one day ‒ no one really knows; it's all a bit of a mystery. Anyway, the golden egg certainly encourages children to attempt the difficult climb up the tower to investigate it. There are little games to play on each platform to entice climbers to stay awhile. There is an internal communication system so that children can stay in touch and even a megaphone so that they can make contact with the outside world. As a reward for all the effort of climbing to the top, there is a thrilling long slide all the way back down. The tower is surrounded by a multitude of climbing and balancing equipment through which it is necessary to find one's way to the tower, as if through a labyrinth.
There are also other play features, such as a zipline, a belt ladder and a spider climbing frame, located along the hiking paths that encourage further active play. Bergen has thus decided to officially declare that this facility is a 'health park for children'.
It would be good if 'health parks' of this kind were to become standard attractions in other countries. The images alone are sufficient testimony of the extent of fun enjoyed by children when they can play with others and are allowed to find their own particular rhythm. And these images generate an optimistic outlook as far as the future is concerned. But we still have far to go before all corresponding organisations around the world are made aware of the benefits of constructing child-orientated playgrounds appropriate to their specific needs.
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