As part of the “Socially Integrative City of Rheydt” urban development programme, the Theaterpark in Mönchengladbach-Rheydt was redesigned. The primary objective was to create attractive, high-quality public green and open spaces in the residential neighbourhoods where people can meet, interact, relax, play and exercise.
A park for everyone that reflects the urban quality of life in Rheydt and brings all visitors together through a wide range of play, sport and leisure activities.
Entrusted with this task, the Cologne-based Greenbox landscape architects' office designed - with the participation of citizens - an attractive multigenerational meeting place that, in addition to making people feel at home, helps to encourage more “exercise in the city”, not only among children and parents.
During workshops with the citizens, interest groups and user groups involved in the planning process, it became clear that everyone wanted modern sports facilities for children under the age of 12 that would provide both a safe training opportunity and a sporting challenge for trend sports such as calisthenics, parkour, OCR and ninja obstacle courses. Rather than using wood as the preferred material for the playground equipment, the sports equipment was to be made of sustainable stainless steel / steel and the parkour area was to be made of concrete and steel elements.
Designed to harmonize with the overall design concept of circular activity islands, the “Turnkreisel” was jointly developed. A sports facility that is as innovative as it is monumental, with organic, circular curves, which stands out from the preferred right-angled design of other fitness facilities.
Looking for a project partner who could literally “master” the technical challenges associated with the design of the “Turnkreisel”, Playparc, a long-established company based in Bad Driburg, met all the requirements and so a sports architectural plan became a tangible reality - and a real eye-catcher that people love to work out on.
The multipurpose “Turnkreisel” soars up to a fall height of 2.95 metres and, thanks to numerous pull-up bars at different heights, offers many people at the same time the opportunity to work on their strength and stamina according to their own performance level and body size. The integrated climbing nets and the wall bars add to the wide range of workout options and are an OCR element, climbing aid and climbing fun at the same time. The monkey bar, which runs in a high arc and is made up of the pull-up bars, is a constant challenge over its entire length, even for trained athletes. However, “the longest monkey bar in the world”* is of course also used by both young and old to balance on it or climb to the top to enjoy the view. (*because it is endless)
Directly adjacent to the “Turnkreisel” is the new parkour facility, enabling not only the trend sport that gives it its name, but also other fitness exercises as well as coordination and balance training. In keeping with the urban origins of parkour, the sporty array of obstacle walls is made of exposed concrete. Combined with vertical and horizontal “bars” made of galvanised steel and other low-threshold elements, an exercise area was created that not only meets all the requirements for basic parkour training, but also inspires experienced traceurs time and again to find new ways to get from point A to point B.
As with all the “activity islands”, the brick edgings of the former park terraces were stylishly recycled for the circular borders of the fall zones – the cradle-to-cradle concept implemented in its true sense. Based on the same philosophy of environmental protection, two metal hemispheres that were formerly used for playing and climbing in the city centre were put to new use in the parkour. The two low-threshold elements not only have an added sporting value, but their recognition value also brings back fond memories for the local residents, encouraging them to engage in some simple exercises. A large - often smirked at - dent in one of the shiny hemispheres has been deliberately retained. It is part of the one hemisphere just as the two hemispheres themselves are part of Rheydt. The incorporation of popular features of the old cityscape increases the acceptance of the new Theaterpark and thus lowers the inhibition threshold of entering it for the first time and becoming active oneself.
In addition to the numerous creative play areas where many young and older children have been playing every day since the opening day on 10 March 2022, modern, safe and long-lasting trend sports facilities have been created for young people and active people, which are very popular. An attractive sports venue and meeting place for all people, regardless of their age, ability, or skill level. Immediately after their completion, the two sports areas were used intensively. The Theaterpark has become a very attractive meeting place and recreation area with modern and safe exercise areas for everyone. Centrally located and freely accessible at all times, it provides plenty of exercise in the city and is an excursion destination worth seeing and experiencing for families and athletes from near and far.
In immer mehr Städten sieht man sie und sie erfreuen sich immer größerer Beliebtheit. So auch in Wiesbaden. Die Rede ist von Pumptracks. Durch Verlagerung des eigenen...
In Bonn, a particularly creative combination of a pump track and a bowl is currently being built, which is also designed for WCMX riders (wheelchair motocross athletes) to enable inclusive participation.
The term urban sport has become widely used in recent years and basically stands for sporting activities in an urban environment. Most of the sports and types of exercise that fall under this category were originally practised directly in the...
Sports, as a form of pleasure, have always been rooted in society and in the construction of cities. It is known that the first known sports equipment in Europe were the...
