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American
Playgrounds: Revitalizing Community Space, by
Susan G. Solomon.
Having worked on public schools,
I have seen firsthand how playgrounds are typically an afterthought.
Admittedly an important element within the child's daily
experience, they are usually off-the-shelf, plastic monstrosities
exhibiting little creativity or relationship to the school
and community. This disappointing state of affairs may have
been one of the impetuses for Susan G. Solomon's American
Playgrounds. As its subtitle suggests, she focuses not
so much on playground design but on its role in community
space. The book is split into two halves: past and present.
In the first section she describes the descent into the
current situation but also recounts successful playgrounds,
most notably Aldo van Eyck's mid-20th-century Amsterdam
interventions and an unfortunately unbuilt collaboration
between Isamu Noguchi and Louis I. Kahn (the latter also
a subject of another book by
Solomon). Unfortunately most of the projects in the second
half of the book aren't as inspiring as those in the first,
owing to a pervasive detail-oriented emphasis over a holistic
point of view. While architects, landscape architects, artists,
and other designers are attempting to improve community
space through their projects, this consideration would come
across stronger if the book's case studies were illustrated
better. Solomon's verbal descriptions try to do justice
to what the visuals lack. Nevertheless, the book fills a
surprisingly open void in discussions about children, play,
and community space. Here's hoping it achieves some of its
intended effect, to not only influence those that design
these environments but the clients and jurisdictions that
make them happen.
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