Designing for kids is certainly not child’s play. Whilst the design process is undertaken by adults, the end-users are often children, such is the case in kindergarten, schools, and parks. Architects have a responsibility, therefore, to ensure that the built environment offers children the chance to play, explore, and learn in physical space, even in a digital age. With that in mind, here are 18 cool spaces designed especially for children – environments that may perhaps inspire the Fosters, Hadids, and Le Corbusiers of tomorrow.
The Youth Wing for Art Education Entrance Courtyard / Ifat Finkelman + Deborah Warschawski
Brutalist Playground / Assemble
The Family Playground / HAO Design
OB Kindergarten and Nursery / HIBINOSEKKEI + Youji no Shiro
Play Landscape be-MINE / Carve + OMGEVING
Drapers Field / Kinnear Landscape Architects
Children's Bicentennial Park / ELEMENTAL
Täby Torg / Polyform
The Courtyard of Our Dreams / Lukas Fúster
Five Fields Play Structure / Matter Design + FR|SCH
The Lego Play Pond / HAO Design
Frederiksvej Kindergarten / COBE
Clover House / MAD Architects
Sleep and Play / Ruetemple
Giraffe Childcare Center / Hondelatte Laporte Architectes
Farming Kindergarten / Vo Trong Nghia Architects
Ama'r Children's Culture House / Dorte Mandrup
Village in the Schoolyard / MUTOPIA
Editor's Note: This article was originally published on May 31, 2019.