Archis as Guide: Aldo van Eyck Playground Tour 2009

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ARCHIS AS GUIDE DE Aldo van Eyck Playground Tour 2009 5

Jonathan Hanahan and Rory Hyde

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In 2002, Volume Volume’s predecessor Archis presented a ‘Psychogeographic Bicycle Eyck’s Amsterdam Playgrounds’.1 Included were two numbered Tour of Aldo van E p maps of the playground locations in 1976 and 2002, a list indicating their current status, and a series of before and after photos showing how they had stood up to the test of time and encroaching urban development.

First designed by the 26 year-old Van Eyck in 1947 for the Department of Urban Development, the playgrounds from his hand – and those replicating it – are beautifully simple, inspired by the artistic likes of Piet Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg. Their minimalist forms, such as steel framed climbing domes, circular sand pits and horizontal bars of varying heights quickly spread throughout the city to form a familiar recurring element, and an important part of Amsterdam’s collective childhood memory.

As this issue of Volume presents a comprehensive exploration of the guide, we thought we would test their credentials by re-revisiting these playgrounds with the magazine as our guide. Please join us on this journey.

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Bertelmanplein Unchanged Vondelpark Under renovation Jacob Obrechtplein Aldo sandpit remains; many new additions Hondecoeterstraat New playground; no Aldo elements remain Sarphatipark Intact with some new additions Kastanjeplein No longer there Laagte Kadijk New playground; no Aldo elements remain Fredrik Hendrikplantsoen New playground; no Aldo elements remain Jonas Daniël Meyerplein Unchanged Westerpark Unchanged Herenmarkt Intact with some new additions

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BERTELMANPLEIN

We decide to start at Bertelmanplein, the first playground Aldo van Eyck designed. It sits in a network of residential streets, straddled between two main avenues and a canal. According to our guide, not much has changed since the previous tour.

Seeking to replicate the iconic image of the project we attempt to barter with a neighbor, asking to climb the stair of their apartment building to get the original vantage point. The mix of broken dialogue and the tenant’s concern with our peculiar interest in the playground lead us to abruptly abort the mission.

At the time, the park is empty. Being our first destination, we take our time, discussing its character, but also letting our inner children run wild; playing in the sand pits and swinging from the climbing structure.

VONDELPARK

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After our fun, we head a few blocks to Vondelpark, assuming to find six immaculate examples of Van Eyck’s playgrounds. To our disappointment, only two are accessible. A few are under renovation, hidden behind a mess of construction fence and tilled earth – thankfully Van Eyck’s original elements seem to be left intact. Others have already undergone their renovation; a plaque on one of the structures pays homage to the original designer. We struggle to find the last one, and begin to question our guide, but we soon find it: a bent and contorted climbing structure lays overturned in the wake of a bulldozer’s path.

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SAFFIERSTRAAT

Where before we stuck to the main roads, taking the quickest route and connecting the dots, now we meander the alleys and side streets, looking for where the playgrounds might once have been. We stumble upon two small parks, situated in the median of the residential Saffierstraat. Not on our planned agenda, we consult the guide for answers to our new discoveries and find that though recorded on the 1976 map, our 2002 version shows the playgrounds as demolished. Could this be their second coming?

Is the space again taking a turn for the better? Only time will tell, we suppose.

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KASTANJEPLEIN

One park we make sure not to miss is Kastanjeplein.

The opening image to our guide shows this as one of the finest examples of early 60s Van Eyck transformations. Situated on a portion of the community square, the proportions of the playground match that of the buildings surrounding it, large enough to accommodate all the children of the community but small enough to allow that community to watch over them as they play.

When we arrive things seem different; looking more like the original image of a desolate street than the enhanced Van Eyck version. Recent infrastructure had removed the central thruway that once acted as an outermost edge to the playground. Now, far too vast to provide peace of mind for children’s guardians, the playground is no more.

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HERENMARKT

Situated just off the Haarlemmerstraat and one of the only remaining playgrounds within the cities outer ring, it is protected on three sides by homes. Children sitting atop the climbing structure are afforded a view of the nearby canal to watch the passing boats. The large sand pit is in great condition, littered with plastic shovels and pails.

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An old guide is normally deemed to be useless and potentially misleading. As the city undergoes constant change, it is likely to lead us to sights that no longer exist or have been outstripped by more popular destinations. Yet because of this, a guide from the past can also act as a record of what was once considered important. What is included in a guide reveals what is treasured by a city at a particular point in time.

The authors of the original guide to Van Eyck’s playgrounds capture their widespread destruction between their highpoint in the 1970s, when upwards of 700 existed, to less than 20 when recorded in 2002.

Similarly, our journey revealed a number of more recent casualties, with another 6 succumbing to the pressures of development and increasing land costs. The changing status of the playgrounds recorded in these maps reveal a city that continues to pursue private investment in lieu of public space.

Appropriately included in the ‘Archis is Paranoid’ issue – bookended by an article on MVRDV’s Silodam that likens it to a gated community, and an interview with a building security consultant – these playgrounds are seen to be victims of more than just development pressures and increasing land values, but of an increasingly pervasive sense of paranoia.

The playgrounds – and the maps that record their existence – stand for a bygone era of civic responsibility and trust – where kids played outside freely, without their parents fearing for their safety – that has since regretfully passed us by. Yet this regret is arguably not shared by our contemporary ‘x-box generation’, for whom a sandpit may not be enough to hold their attention. As new generations take shape and social paranoia evolves, can we even expect the next psychogeographic tour to take us through physical space at all?

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Liane Lefaivre, Marlies Boterman, Suzanne Loen and Merel Miedema, ‘A psychogeographical bicycle tour of Aldo van Eyck’s Amsterdam playgrounds’, Archis no.3, 2002, pp.129-135.

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