Where do the children play?

An interactive playscape at Volkswagen's Autostadt museum in Germany is designed to develop children's motor skills,  challenge them with a difficult climb and imbue a sense of sustainability.

All Images Courtesy: Uwe Walter for Autostadt Wolfsburg

It’s most likely a parents’ nightmare, but sure to be a hit among children. At the Volkswagen’s Autostadt museum in Wolfsburg, Germany, a sculptural playground for children was opened last week. In a Gaudi-like version of the jungle gym, the abstract shapes rise organically from the ground like monster blobs. With steep inclines, ropes and few safety nets, there’s bound to be lots of climbing, lounging, sliding, slipping off and falling over. But since when has playtime not implied a brush with danger and adventure? Hopefully an occasional scraped knee will be the worst of this playscape’s adventures-gone-wrong.  

Designed as an expansion to Volkswagen’s Level Green exhibit, there is an agenda of sustainability that the auto brand is driving home. Level Green is a life-size webbed form that reveals information to users step by step, suggesting the value of scientific research and technology in the emerging future. To go with that, the playscape is a more interactive tool designed to appeal to children at a more visceral level. There is an element of developing their motor skills and providing a sensory experience. Germany-based architect J Mayer H, who collaborated with Renate Zimmer, a professor in sports science in Osnabruck University, in making the playscape, intended it to be a learning tool for children. The playground is part of a larger program that includes cooking classes and driving lessons.

In an urban setup where few children have the luxury of wandering aimlessly into the woods, into a make-believe world of twigs, bark, stones and getting dirty in the mud, the playscape is barely a substitute, but close. Its surface appears to be metallic, but it’s made of solid wood. There is a resemblance to giant gnarled roots, tree trunks and branches spreading out. The abstract shapes are sure to spark some imaginary play and infuse life into these blobs.