20161027 play eng

PLAY! play and play landscapes for all

About VEGA landscape and PLAY! PLAY concerns play. It is about our passion to create an inspiring environment which invites you to play as well as our experience of playing in the school, in the city and in the countryside. We believe that there is room for play everywhere and that play environments can add value to a place.

We want to share our experiences, hoping to inspire new projects and create space for even more play in the world.

VEGA landscape is a young design studio, which since 2009 has worked to create playgrounds for schools, institutions and green spaces.

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We create each playground as a responce to the site and the users, from kindergartens to schools, so every play space is unique and poses new opportunities for play and experiences. The practice, which has offices in Copenhagen and Aarhus, is independent and works with a variety of suppliers, producers and construction people.

In PLAY, we present a selection of projects relating to this theme. Most have been designed by VEGA landscape, while there are a few examples of projects that the company’s owners have been involved in, as employees.

PLAY! Play and play-landscapes for all

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�The message is simple: Go out and play. Play, play, play!

Children should not train or do exercises, unless there is something wrong. Children need to play. They do not learn to play from the adults, but just by letting loose in some inspiring and challenging environment.

So develop their motor skills by themselves �

Anne Brodersen, movement consultant and former sports and college teacher.

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Play and learning Play in nature

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Play with the theme

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Play in the town

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Play together

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Start of play

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Play and Learn

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”Working with the” body in space ”on the playground or in the PE lesson is to work with the right brain spatial intelligence, which is extremely useful for the child.

Later they will well be able to grasp the basic principles of geometry, volume, quantity, chemistry and physics experiments and abstract mathematics. ”

Ann E. Knudsen, cand. mag, researcher ’Empower brain - use the body!’

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�People talk about the golden age of the motor (senses), which for the child is from about 7 years to just before puberty. Here the brain is highly prepared to learn new things and to develop its motor (senses). And here you have to like to learn many different things. �

Lasse Kristian Suhr, MSc. in human physiology and assistant professor at the Metropolitan University College

Ă…by Skole - Space for play and learning, 2011 Foto: Simon Jeppesen, photo journalist

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Playing and learning For us play always involves learning. We see the game as the place where children can practice life and test reality. We also know that providing a good framework can inspire good play where children’s learning can improve.

Recent research shows that when it comes to improving performance in the classroom, the school’s outdoor areas need to be addressed.

Play in the school is no longer just what happens happens during the breaktime, but it has become a prerequisite for the child’s learning ability in class. The school’s outdoor areas can be used as an active part of teaching. Many skills are better learned when coupled with movement.

The 3 times tables can be demonstrated through jumping across large number fields.

Similarily the concept of ”one kilometer” becomes less abstract when it responds to running four times around a striped path, shaped like a large 1 meter tape measure.

The outdoor space is also important for the social life of the school. A classic schoolyard, arranged as one large uncluttered space encourages those who are not part of the football game happening in the centre to stay along the building’s edges. A schoolyard, which is spatially varied, creates many more opportunities for both residence and activity, from the boisterous group game to the quiet game between two children and all variations in-between.

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* ”When guests come to school - I invite always them at half past nine, as the ten-recess has just started. So it is impossible to be in a bad mood - when you see all the kids getting started on the playground.

EVERYTHING is in use !! ”

Steffen Poulsen, SFO-leder Åby SFO Client and contact person for the project

Play and Learning

Ă…by Skole - Space for play and learning 2011

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Small Board

The great route

MOTION AFTER LESSONS: 15 minutes of athletics or hockey allowed students, one week later, to perform better at a task than the control group who watched cartoons. This study at Bellahøj School was conducted in spring 2011 by Jesper Lundbye-Jensen et al University of Copenhagen, Institute of Sports Science and Nutrition, Center for Team play and Health.

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= The learning path

Movement and learning is an important theme of the new school reform. The reform of danish schools from 2015 requires 45 minutes of exercise per day.

Movement requires good space, and therefore it is appropriate to take these 45 minutes of the school day outside, where there is room for larger movements.

When teaching is pulled out of the clearly defined framework of the classroom, challenges for the teacher increases.

Here the outdoor area’s décor can help to establish a good teaching situation.

With clear assembly, and spatially defined zones for activity, we can structure a good framework around both the teacher and pupils performance for the 45 minutes of fresh air activities.

CASE Ă…BY SKOLE: BEFORE

Large schoolyard without niches and nooks Noise problems from the access road Wind Problems, bad microclimate Playground equipment with only room for one child Alot of asphalt - no grass

AFTER

Ă…by Skole - Space for play and learning 2011

Playing and learning integrated Spatially nuanced playground with niches and spaces Playground equipment for group use Space for motor skills play Space for social learning and role play Collection areas - outdoor education Sheltered from the noise and wind Seasons observed with flowering trees and shrubs Beautiful new identity with complementary colors

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Play in nature 15

Play in nature

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�When children play in nature, they experiment, draw up hypotheses and imagine their own world. Here you give yourself tasks unlike in school, where you are given assignments. In nature, children learn to make decisions and to be their own boss. �

Erik Sigsgaard, educator, college teacher, researcher

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�Children who do not experience the sensory nature, lose the understanding that we are part of something bigger and therefore mutually dependent. If we become alienated from nature, we lose it, and thus we lose ourselves. �

Kjeld Fredens, brain researcher

Natural playground, Islands Brygge, 2011

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Green islands in a river delta Idea sketches for the nature playground at Artillerivej

Asphalt river forms a path between the islands in the delta Artillerivej naturlegeplads, Islands Brygge, 2011

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Natural playground, Islands Brygge, 2011

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Play in nature

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”We block the children inside small spaces and move on uniform, flat surfaces. Come, take off to some cliffs and rocks and hills, and drop the kids off. ” Steps at Glorup Gods, 2013 Foto Line Kjær

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Anne Brodersen, bevægelseskonsulent

Play in naturen For us to play in nature means to bring play ”into the wild” but also to bring nature into play.

We work with playgrounds in natural areas where both the design and the theme of play is adapted to the surroundings, so that the forest or commons becomes the playground’s frame.

Here you can climb in the spider’s web, hide in the forrest of stumps or jump from stump to stump.

But just as often, we bring nature into the game.

We create space for puddles in the asphalt path, plants form scrub in the school yard, attracting birds while buzzing insects are drawn to the flowering shrubs and fruit trees in the city.

We also create playgrounds where seasonal changes can influence the game - hills that become exciting with snow and ditches that trickle after being filled with rainwater.

We believe that play in nature - and the nature in the game - gives children an immediate experience of resources and natural phenomena. A ray of sunlight in a puddle, which tomorrow will have evaporated, is a simple story about the sun and water in a sustainable cycle.

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”The more technology we surround ourselves with, the more relaxing nature we need.”

Richard Louvs www.childrenandnature.com

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Play with the theme 23

Play with the theme Leg med tema

Vestvolden legeplads, 2013 The playground is inspired by soldiers’ activities in 1890 Here are “ammunition boxes” that children can climb on

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Artillery magazine storage of ammunition, has been transformed into a large play plateau filled with ‘boxes’ Foto: Tøjhusmuseet

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”Should we therefore work with play on a preserved ancient monument, it is important that you are constantly thinking about the monument as the starting point for the project narrative and expression, so that the added elements do not overshadow or disturb the experience of the monument”.

Thomas Roland, archaeologist Centre for Cultural Heritage

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Circles as a theme KobbelgĂĽrden, Fredericia 2013 Outdoor areas and playground for mentally handicapped adults

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Play with the Theme We often use the children’s own imagination as a springboard to tell both old and new stories through play. For the City of Copenhagen we have tried to bring to life the story of Copenhagen’s fortifications, the ancient forts and Vestvolden, through play and movement.

Here, both children and adults can lie in the tent camp, ride on horseback or experience a frisson of fear as the cable car goes down the cannon ramp.

Small group info sheets with old photos and historical information can be used as the inspiration for new games on the site or provide clarifying answers for the questions of the playground’s author.

Circle Theme Other issues can inspire, both in form or as a topic. The circle in the project of Kobbel farm in Fredericia was used throughout the project, from the shape of the room down to the last detail of the small tiles in the grass. It can also be seen in the moon car route’s loop.

Circles in grass Kobbelgården, 2013

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Kobbel farm is a home for adults with a variation of physical and mental disabilities. The residents’ mental disabilities mean that they retain a desire to play throughout their lives.

The outdoor spaces of the home, are therefore designed to accomodate physically challenging and playful activities - in adult size!

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KobbelgĂĽrden 2013 Foto: Simon Jeppesen, photo journalist

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The soldiers spent the night in tents

Watch Ladders were important Horses were a necessary part of a soldiers life

Soldiering theme at Kastrup Fort We have a lot of imagination regarding the soldiers from 100 years ago. They can be an inspiring setting for fun games.

With the museum’s help, we found stories from

Play in the tent design VEGA landscape

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the soldiers everyday lives. Set into the fort’s vast landscape, simple custom tools along with the children’s own imagination create a new form of play rooted in the history of Denmark.

Active play on ladders - design of VEGA landscape

A solid horse in concrete - design “concreatures”

sandstone

gneiss

Porfyr

Sandorm

Geological theme Vesterbro Ny Skole Everyone knows the feeling of finding a special stone at the beach and putting it in your pocket.

The large stones in the school yard can be used as benches or to climb on. In the ’geo-wall’ the

Theme of rocks and geology Vesterbro Ny Skole, 2007 (Algren og Bruun)

stones are cut, so you can see their structure, with their colors and patterns becoming even clearer in the rain.

The Geo wall many stones are assembled into a playFurniture

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Play in the Towncenter Smile and hop on the harbor promenade Havnegade København, 2012 (Algren og Bruun - concept 2006)

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Play in the city can have many forms.

The very best play occurs in the unexpected when you can climb on a bench, balance on a curb or jump over a puddle.

Play in the city operates simultaneously with the city’s other life, and follows the pulse of the city.

Here there are cars that park, and cyclists who are busy - here there is light, shadow, noises and impressions, and many other people to meet in public spaces.

Therefore, the game adjusts to where there is room in the city. A multi-purpose bench located where the pavement is particularly wide, pulls the older children out of the city space, while a trampoline in the paving adds a hop and a smile to the walk.

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Schoolchildren using the public space Den Classenske Legatskole pĂĽ Vester Voldgade, 2011 (COBE-GHB landskabsarkitekter -grontmij)

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Street vs. The Playgroud Play in the city and in public spaces. The starting point for the spontaneous play in the city - skateboarding, parkour, roller hockey - is the city’s own elements. Masonry, edges and ramps create oppertunities while the playful navigates the city’s other users.

Unlike the traditional playground, there are no fences, and you can even join in! There is a great contrast between the playground protected universe and the ’street’ as a playground on the city’s terms. ’Street’ or play in the city has a target audience of older children, adolescents and adults who manage to grasp the city’s complex context.

Asphalt and graphic maze Vesterbro Ny Skole, 2007 (Algren og Bruun)

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At the same time the ’street’ with its urban character and its informal community appeals to both older children and young people who have otherwise replaced physical play with chatting and games. Play in the city should build on these qualities, with unpretentious play furniture, surprising activities and informal settings adjusted to urban life.

School break hangout spot at table-bench on the wide sidewalk Den Classenske Legatskole pĂĽ Vester Voldgade, 2011 (COBE-GHB Landskabsarkitekter -grontmij)

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”The amazing thing is not that the kids can have an imaginary world in such a breeze. Something about that we are sitting in an airplane on the way to South America with a cargo full of gold bars. The amazing thing is that they can agree to have the same imagination - or films - in my head. ”

Jan Kampmann Professor i psykologi og uddannelses forskning, RUC

Åby skole, 2011 Kerbs and soft grass hills serves as a common ‘infinite’ bench - always room for one more!

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‘1-2 - driving’ - which can also accommodate role playing. Åby skole, 2011

Spinning Disc - cooperation and gravity gets the rotation started.

Artillerivej natural playground, 2011

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”Exposure to that which evokes anxiety is the best therapy.

And that is exactly what children do when they are attracted to the risky - they expose themselves to an anxiety and learn to master it”

Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair, psychologist

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The social game Many studies now show what teachers and educators have said for years: outdoor play helps to strengthen children’s social skills.

Good space, fresh air and low noise levels provide excellent conditions for the concentration and tolerance between children.

Role Play When we work to create a framework around children’s play, we think of the space and the elements which can strengthen the social aspect of play. Playhouse City and tent camp can each inspire creative role playing games.

They can be imagined as a small community, where children work together in a quiet game or they can become the framework for a wild battle-like game where the tents metamorphose into small bastions. Other elements call for cooperation and joint play: climbing elements, where children need to

help each other, or wide slides, where many children can slide together.

There also needs to be room for uninterrupted play between two children who are at once both spatially shielded yet secure with adult supervision. Finally there should be a quiet and private space with room for the individual child’s exploration of the world.

Play loops To create conditions across the playground we often work with ”play-loops”. A ”play-loop” is a series of tools, which after trying them all, brings you back to the start. A Tarzan course in a loop can for example, can traverse the whole playground - so the child can move freely between different types of play. Through encouraging movement across the playground it becomes uncomplicated for the child to join in with other children’s games. ”Play-loops” can also create a gradation of challenges - when you have experienced the small slide, you can dare to try the big one.

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”Through investing in the outdoor environment, where conflicts are reduced and social games increase, children’s opportunities to develop socially are improved. Each child will have a greater insight into the required social rules child through this exposure. ” Ole Wohlgemuth, Seminarie Associate Professor and biologist Handbook of natural pedagogy (2004)

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On the bench you can sit as a group - or alone without feeling it!

Example of inclusive furnishings - FLOR - bench from Escofet Ă…by skole, 2011

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CHECKLIST FOR PLAYGROUNDS: • Coarse Motor - hop and ball games • Fine motor - climbing games • Concentration - balance play Evaluering af

• Numbers / letters - hopscotching

elev-spørgeskema 09. 08. 2013

• Tactile understanding - research. surfaces • Social learning - cooperation and roles • Freedom of choice - participation or spectator

Spørgsmål om udearealer Skørping Skole Vi skal tegne en ny skolegård til jeres skole. Det er i en konkur rence, så vi er ikke helt sikre på at vi vinder, men vi vil gøre alt hvad vi kan for at tegne det bedste projekt til jer.

I kan hjælpe os. Vi har brug for at vide hvordan I leger når I har frikvarter. Skriv lige hvad du tænker, som svar på spørgsmålene her:

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ALDER: PIGE/DRENG:

Mange hilsner Anne Galmar og Anne Dorthe Vestergaard 1.

Ja/nej spørgsmål: JA NEJ

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Hvad er det bedste ved frikvarteret?

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Hvad er det værste ved frikvarteret?

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Hvilke lege leger du med dine venner, nævn nogle:

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Kan du huske hvad I legede sidste år, nævn nogle:

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Er du mest inde eller ude i frikvarteret?

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Hvad laver du når du er inde i frikvarteret?

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Hvad laver du når du er ude i frikvarteret?

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Hvis du skulle ønske noget du kunne lave i frikvarteret udenfor, hvad skulle det så være??

Kan du bedst li at lege mange sammen (fx spille bold) 3.

Kan du bedst li at lege med få venner ad gangen 4.

Kan du godt lige at være ude i regnvejr?

• Of Understanding - seasonal variation • Resource Awareness - rainwater • Graduations of challenges

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Spiser du nogen gange madpakke udenfor?

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Kan du li at være udenfor i timerne?

Cykler eller går du som regel i skole?

Du må gerne tegne.

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Har du prøvet at være med din lærer udenfor i en time? – Hvis du har, hvad var det bedste ved det?

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Kommer du på skolens grund eller i skoven ved siden når skolen har lukket.

Du kan tegne her - eller på bagsiden

Hvad laver du der (fx cykler eller løber )?

Example of user involvement. Student questionnaire from competition ‘Drøn på skolegården’

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How to get the game started?

We can help you get the game started. Your wishes and dreams for a new playground, and our experience in developing and realizing projects can together create a unique playground for your place.

We think in correlation between outside and inside and between old and new. We think long term - with a design tailored to your needs and solutions that last. We think of the users - children and adults - as well as those who are responsible for the playgrounds operation and maintenance.

We are independent and can therefore always choose the best product and the best supplier for your particular project.

Playground Safety is a very high priority in all projects. Our interior design of playgrounds, and our special design of furniture always live up to the standards of the Danish standard for playground safety / EN 1176

WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW TO MAKE A PLAYGROUND •

WHO:

Target audience - who should play here?

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WHAT:

Budget - what are your limits and possibilities?

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WHERE:

Area - where should the playground be?

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STATUS:

What have you now - is there anything that can be recycled?

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Construction Detail of the hill with custom playhouses The integrated institution “Princess Charlotte Street 42”, Copenhagen

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“The rubber hill is always fun, but especially in snowy weather - because it is really smooth!”

Thilde 2. b, Åby Skole

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Biotop mod Jagtvej Trays with play set and shrubs sandbox environment Sluice v. Input Bicycle parking parking

Motor function lane Rubber Tray Playhouses Bænke Benches Panna-bana Plan of the playground The integrated institution “Prinsesse Charlottesgade 42”, København

sandpit Disabled Parking

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ASK US - WE CAN ADVISE THE FOLLOWING:

• Impartial consultancy We consider offers from various suppliers of tools, so that together we will find the products that fit your needs

• Consulting and concept development Not everyone has unlimited funds to implement a playground. We can help with the idea sketches, budget and application materials which can be used for further fundraising.

• Total Consultancy Development and design of playground for the school, institution or residential area. We focus on your desires, budget and target audience. We follow you all the way from the development of the first ideas and through all project phases, to when the playground is ready for inauguration. We stand for contact with authorities, suppliers and construction people.

• Area Planning We have experience with both urban and landscape planning, where play, activity and availability are incorporated from the outset.

• User Participative Process We ensure that all parties with an interest in the future playground are heard, from users to those responsible for the daily maintenance. The process will ensure that the playground will be a joint project from the beginning, and all good ideas are heard.

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PROJECT FACTS:

Project Name | Year Client | Budget | Team Åby Skole | 2011 | Skolebestyrelse og SFO | 3 mio. | VEGA landskab Artillerivej naturlegeplads | 2011 | Kbh Kommune | 0,9 mio | VEGA landskab Glorup Gods | 2013 | ejer | 0,4 mio | VEGA landskab og Absolut Landskab Kobbelgården | 2013 | Fredericia Kommune| samlet projekt 40 mio | VEGA landskab Vestvolden legeplads | 2013 | Kbh Kommune | 3,9 mio | VEGA landskab Kastrup Fort | 2012 | Kbh Kommune | 0,5 mio | VEGA landskab Vesterbro Ny Skole | 2007 | Kbh Kommune | 3,5 mio | Algreen og Bruun Havnegade | 2006 disp. forslag | Kbh Kommune | 12 mio | Algreen og Bruun Vester Voldgade | 2009 | Kbh Kommune | 10 mio | COBE & GHB landskab, grontmij

VEGA landskab og planlægning Afd. CPH Sturlasgade 14M, 2. sal 2300 København S Phone +45 6146 3387 Afd. AAR Vesterbro Torv 1-3, 2. sal 8000 Aarhus C Phone: +45 2729 7840 www.VEGAlandskab.dk

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