Designing for Play

Play, like natural ecosystems, is most fun when there are open possibilities. Many pathways, choices, and space for spontaneous imagination.

Healthy ecosystems have wild elements – meandering streams, wind-sown patches of wildflower seedlings, fallen logs, and messy golden yellow leaves draped onto the ground. These elements are what we see as being beautiful in nature and inspire us to design gardens that can reflect and participate in this open-ended dialogue with our local ecosystems.

We believe wild nature can inspire a spirit of playfulness and freedom – reframing the world as a place of constraints into one of possibility, joy, and space to play.

When we talk about a “playground,” most of us think about these post-WWII ideas of prefabricated steel and plastic play structures set in a sunny sand pit at the neighborhood park. Though these can be fun places for kids to play and gather with neighbors, we’d like to see more types of playgrounds that are inclusive of possibilities that stretch beyond and relate back to the concept of wildness, grounded in the ecological process. When it comes to materials and form, we love seeing:

• Indeterminate possibilities

• Natural materials

• A connection with nature

• Sensory engagement

• A sense of mystery

• A spirit of wildness

All elements that come from the tenents of biophilic design.

Playful moments don’t need to be big or monumental. They can be simple, beautiful, even temporary.