IT IS URGENT TO BUILD AND HAVE PLAYGROUNDS. Play in the early years of life has a profound and lasting influence on a child’s health, wellbeing, and long-term development. Studies have shown early play experiences to shape a child’s physical growth, capacity for learning, chances of finishing school, future employability, and even income...
To play will prepare kids to an ever changing society where their choices will represent the society they will build, and they´re gonna be able to return in many different ways when their skills develop into adulthood.
All of the 5 playgrounds I´ve built where designed fundamentally under integration with the site, use of the local materials as much as possible, saving resources and priorizing benefit for the children by stimulating learning in different areas, also always taking on account the population and it´s age.
Playgrounds demand to be sustainable. For maintenance and for them to be safe on a long term basis, therefore they must be discussed, design and built along with a school community or a neighborhood.
Inclusive design involves the community in many ways: from the kids for the design, teachers organizing alumni and parents who also discuss, volunteer and donate to families cooking something for the opening ceremony.
ECO Playgrounds
24 games displayed on 2559 square feet of land designed with the slope and trees existing on site. Ciudad Vieja, Sacatepéquez Guatemala 2019
Wooden platform on tree, wooden climber with motorbike tires, bars, rings and store front made with recycled metal structure
Eco Slide. Original Ecocabezas creation. Metal structure filled with construction crumbs and tires, then wrapped with metal wire mesh.
9 feet wide Ecoslide, finished with a 2inch cement layer.
Tire step filled with soil and sand for Ecoslide
Side tire climber bolted to metal pipe and to the trees
Truck tire see-saw and mini-maze
mini maze with tires
Dragon. Balance-Fantasy game made with tires
Fun Group Hammok made with high endurance fishing net.
fun Cable Spool game
Tire tent Climber
Baby swings made with motorbike tires on metal pieces fixed to trees
Plastic barrel tunnel
Original Ecocabezas design made from construction crumbs and tires, 4 cement quintals, iron grid and wire mesh.
Structural design, bamboo and labor Donated by CASSA
Handmade hanging games
Desing adjusted to site conditions and existing trees
Sign to give credit to donors.
Existing tire game adapted to become a turtle. 4 way see-saw
11 games, some original, some adapted to site conditions and inclusive process.
Designed after inclusive process with the kids, then approved by community
eco built slide made of construction crumbles inside metal mesh and a layer of colored cement
finised Tree Hugger, rings and see saw
Using the land conditions and trees
ladders and rings plus jumping tires
This playground was a result of a long creative process by Arki-kids.
They hired me to accomplish the design and construction of the playground. Along with the help of several volunteers who worked.
we recycled these donated cable spools and painted them, nailed them together so kids can climb on them
5meter long Ferrocement Slide
Children painted the tires and wood of the games
all tires painted and polished concrete finish for best performance due to hill moisture
these where figures that the children asked for
tires are always fun to climb
Climbable or to seat inside. Welded Bike rings
we edited the initial idea to make it better
made by blacksmith, put together for better endurance
to build the rope climbing net
rings made of bike tires are fun
87 feet long Earthbag Hill Slide. Ironworks reinforced Earthbag walls with anti-seismic buttresses. Exterior concrete layer and tile for water resistance.
Exterior Mural paint and tires as steps on both sides
Mural Paint
From the mouth opening
Entry
Side Elevation
Areal view
First out of Four Earthbag rows (Antonio Balam, co- designer, builder)
Earthbagging lenght completed
Ironworks as reinforcement and buttresses detail
soil base plus reinforced mesh and gravel stone as insulation layer . Iron hoops for concrete
Starting head Ironworks
1/8" ironworks, strainer to make surface even and cement grout
plywood to make 7cm concrete casting
concrete grout
5th Eco playground designed and built along with the school community Patzizia Chimaltenango. Finished by May 2015 with the help of Matt Green and Playground Ideas
Slide-a-saurus Rex; requested by the kids during the inclusive design process.
Earthbag, soil, tile and tires and iron to hold the neck
Earthbagging to be filled with soil, then concrete protective layer and then tile to slide.
The houses, also children´s request made with steel tubes and wood.
Tire worm for the youngsters, oil paint for color and fun
Marimba players, playground users.
4th playground designed and built along with the school community at Chimaltenango, finished May 2014
Joint effort by Ukuxbe & Imagitlán. Tire Turtle requested by kids during the inclusive design process
Tire dragon-fly for toddlers
Tile Earthbag Slide made with the colaboration of Ulew Atitlan and voluneers, filled with gravel and soil
Earthbag slide, protective concrete layer and tiles
Finished slide, with concrete curb to define 3 lanes and tires as steps
4 way monkey bars welded and painted with anticorrosive paint. Made by hired blacksmith
Swing set made with steel tubes, anticorrosive paint tires and stainless steel chain.
Climbing rope games knitted by volunteers
4 way seesaw made with treated wood and truck tires.
Garden House made with welded bike rims and anticorrosive paint
Gathering area for ceremonies and reunions, seating made with assorted sizes of tires
The site conditions where used to benefit the design, the whole playground is about 550 tires.
1st eco playground designed and built along with the school communityof Sta Catarina Ixtahuacán, Sololá Finished February 2012.
I was in charge of the inclusive design process, coordination, budget elaboration, quotation and purchase of materials, construction guidance and labor. The Playground process was an effort shared with Licda. Giglia Cannesa and Asociación Vivamos Mejor
Metal barrel games finely finished for safety
Assorted games
4 way seesaw made with wood and tires
Starting Eartbag House with the help of Ulew Atitlan
Inside earthbag house
Earthbag house with concrete protective layer
Earthbag house painted with Nopal Paint as a waterproofing protective layer
Earthbag house is a tunnel as an entry, a firemen tube and a metal slide to go down and steps to go back up
2nd eco playground designed and built along with the school communityof Sta Catarina Ixtahuacán, Sololá Finished February 2012.
I was in charge of the inclusive design process, coordination, budget elaboration, quotation and purchase of materials, construction guidance and labor. The Playground process was an effort shared with Licda. Giglia Cannesa and Asociación Vivamos Mejor
This time the site was much smaller so the Earthbag house is smaller too.
Assorted simple tire games
Artistic concrete works made by volunteers of the community under Ulew Atitlán´s guidance
4 way seesaw made with wood and tires
1st eco playground designed and built along with the school communityof Sta Catarina Ixtahuacán, Sololá Finished February 2012.
I was in charge of the inclusive design process, coordination, budget elaboration, quotation and purchase of materials, construction guidance and labor. The Playground process was an effort shared with Licda. Giglia Cannesa and Asociación Vivamos Mejor
Earthbag house window
Earthbag house with concrete layer for protection
Artistic Concrete works made by volunteers form the community under Ulew Atitlán´s guidance.
15 feet Metal slide built to adapt to the house
Earthbag house painted with Nopal Paint as a waterproofing protective layer
Fireman tube being used. Inside of the house decorated by the locals with Nopal paint