October 16, 2014
Image from monstrum.dk
We'll travel the world looking for an amazing playground, and we currently can't get enough of MONSTRUM, the award-winning Danish playground design firm headed by former theater set designers Ole Barslund Nielsen and Christian Jensen. Using giant scale and provocative figures, Nielsen and Jensen create multi-age play structures that both inspire and challenge developing minds and bodies. Each playground is handmade, primarily of sustainable wood and stainless steel, in their Copenhagen studio. The designers are experts in playground safety, but also well-versed in child development, a combination of knowledge allowing for structures that encourage safe risk-taking and facilitate the important leaps in learning gained through that risk. MONSTRUM also values narrative, and each playground engenders a unique imaginative environment. Kristinebergs Slottspark in Stockholm tells a forest story, with a massive owl king and queen overseeing the children as they navigate a forest floor littered with interactive "acorns;" while the Watchtower in Klelund Dyrehave is a 45 foot high, almost foreboding, take on the traditional secret hide-out. Check out their website to see the full range of MONSTRUM's incredible work.
Image from monstrum.dk