For the young generation
It is an object without a function, a spatial structure that does not obey any discernible logic: “Play Structure” is the name its creators, design studio Matter Design and architect’s office FR|SCH, have given the wooden entity the size of a bus. A more specific designation hardly seems possible. Moreover, the idea is not to limit children’s imaginations; the structure with its series of different types of open and closed spaces is meant to appeal to kids’ curiosity and spirit of discovery.
This free spirit goes back a long way here in the Five Fields community in Lexington, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. The community was planned in the early 1950s by The Architects Collaborative, or TAC for short – the architectural office of Walter Gropius, who taught at nearby Harvard University. TAC arranged the community around a shared space for which residents had joint responsibility and which was intended to bring them together, something it succeeded in doing. This spirit is to continue in “Five Fields Play Structure”. And it is also intended to create a special place where local children can enjoy special experiences and come together. (fap)
