Cecilie Rohwedder profiles playground designer Peter Heuken, who's at the vanguard of a trend towards bespoke play spaces that challenge children as much as they entertain them.
"Mr. Heuken is the head designer at Richter Spielgeräte, a German company that has built playgrounds around the world. A trained carpenter and wood engineer, he is currently creating playgrounds in Sarasota, Fla., and on Governor's Island in New York City. One of his best-known projects is the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Playground in London's Kensington Gardens, which features a large wooden pirate ship."
"Mr. Heuken, a 48-year-old father of three, builds playgrounds that are made mostly of wood, giving them a look very different from the bright, plastic climbing frames found at many U.S. parks and schools," explains Rohwedder. "They are part of a trend away from cookie-cutter play equipment and toward imaginative, challenging structures, often designed for specific spaces. Mr. Heuken's special interest is to make his playgrounds as safe as necessary, but also exciting and demanding for children."
"Nobody uses a car because it has brakes," he says. "Nobody goes to a playground because it is safe."
FULL STORY: The Engineer of Playground Pizazz
Private Donations Propel Early Restoration of Palisades Playground
Los Angeles has secured over $1.3 million in private funding to restore the Pacific Palisades playground months ahead of schedule, creating a modern, accessible space that supports community healing after recent wildfires.
A Data-Driven Approach to ‘Playspace Inequity’
Mapping playgrounds and their conditions can reveal how childhood play opportunities are inequitably distributed within cities.
Protecting Kids from Climate Change by Greening Schools
Los Angeles Unified School District is in the process of implementing a plan to ensure that at least 30 percent of all campuses include green spaces by 2035.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Canada vs. Kamala: Whose Liberal Housing Platform Comes Out on Top?
As Canada votes for a new Prime Minister, what can America learn from the leading liberal candidate of its neighbor to the north?
The Five Most-Changed American Cities
A ranking of population change, home values, and jobs highlights the nation’s most dynamic and most stagnant regions.
San Diego Adopts First Mobility Master Plan
The plan provides a comprehensive framework for making San Diego’s transportation network more multimodal, accessible, and sustainable.
Housing, Supportive Service Providers Brace for Federal Cuts
Organizations that provide housing assistance are tightening their purse strings and making plans for maintaining operations if federal funding dries up.
Op-Ed: Why an Effective Passenger Rail Network Needs Government Involvement
An outdated rail network that privileges freight won’t be fixed by privatizing Amtrak.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions