Aldo van Eyck: Seventeen, 18, 19... Playgrounds

Aldo van Eyck: Seventeen, 18, 19... Playgrounds, draws on a research project by Denisa Kollarová and Anna van Lingen on the work of the Dutch architect Aldo van Eyck (1918-1999), designer of hundreds of playgrounds in Amsterdam between the 1940s and 1970s, characterized by simple metal structures, sand pits and concrete elements in which children could develop their own autonomy and creativity through play. The research began as a mapping of the few spaces still present in the Amsterdam cityscape and was initially published by Lecturis in 2015. This second edition with new contributions by Francis Strauven, Paul Lappia, Tobias Krasenberg, Jonáš Verešpej, Tess Van Eyck, and Harm Stevens, and peer-reviewed by Markus Miessen, is co-published by FFA BUT and Oreri–Iniziativa Editoriale, a risograph studio based in Cagliari, Sardinia.

“What we are witnessing here constitutes the design of gatherings, agonistic assemblies for an intergenerational audience. As a design, it is deeply aware that, in reality, planning is a myth. Such an approach, as well as this book which summarizes it, is a great reminder that planning can and indeed should be understood as an unfinished practice, one that leaves space for uncertainty: thinking about design not as a formal commodity, but as enablers in a social setting with a particular scale. What we are witnessing here is the design of affect. Affect not only towards the city itself but directed at every one of us.” – Markus Miessen