Walter Van Beirendonck designs space-themed playscape for Belgian arts campus
Children can dive into an enormous ball pit or dance beneath a shiny UFO at this play space created by fashion designer Walter Van Beirendonck for the C-mine creative hub in Genk, Belgium.
The semi-permanent playground installation was developed by Van Beirendonck in response to a commission from C-mine, which contains a range of cultural facilities on the site of the former Winterslag coal mine.
As part of its programme dedicated to supporting art and play, the organisation asked the former head of the Antwerp Fashion Academy to create an engaging and immersive environment for children.
"We wanted to collaborate with an artist who has a very distinct identity and a clear personal signature," said Laurens Mariën, the curator of PLAY at C-mine. "Although Walter is primarily known as a fashion designer, we found it exciting to invite him to step outside his comfort zone and create something spatial: a work that is both an artwork and a playground."
The Welcome Little Stranger installation is informed by the idea of extraterrestrial life and explores themes including belonging, beauty and freedom, while providing a humorous and fantastical setting for adventurous play.
"I wanted to design an environment that encourages children to use their own imagination, without screens or digital distractions," said Van Beirendonck.
"Welcome Little Stranger is about wonder, the joy of discovery and playing together – without limits."
The design process began with a series of participatory workshops led by social designer Emma Ribbens, during which children from around Genk provided their perspectives on play and the installation's galactic theme.
Based on the outcomes from this research phase, Van Beirendonck set about creating a series of elements that encourage a return to analogue forms of play such as drawing, dressing up, reading and dancing.
The playground includes a reading island with specially designed seating, as well as an orange drawing island with integrated tablets and a dressing up area featuring three distorting mirrors.
The play islands are arranged around a life-size silver UFO featuring integrated LED lighting and a domed capsule containing a pair of friendly aliens.
An area beneath the spacecraft functions as a disco that periodically plays music by Hantrax – an artist who has provided the soundtracks for many of Van Beirendonck's fashion shows.
The islands are surrounded by an enormous ball pit filled with 140,000 white balls that give the impression of floating in the clouds.
"Children are free to move through the space and often invent their own ways of playing beyond the different islands," Mariën told Dezeen.
"It's wonderful to see how each child discovers the playground in their own unique way."
Every element of the playscape was custom made by Belgian production firm Fisheye, which used augmented reality to help visualise how the final outcome would look in the space.
The project's title refers to the tradition of embroidering a cushion for a newborn baby, but also alludes the idea of welcoming strangers, which could mean extraterrestrial beings or fellow human beings.
"In Walter's world, everyone is welcome, regardless of gender, background or identity," Mariën explained. "It was therefore important for him to create a space where children could experience that same sense of openness and welcome."
The installation is intended to remain in place for several years, with its lifespan ultimately determined by how well it withstands the intensity of children playing with it.
Other recent playground designs include a children's exhibition space in Quito and a Toronto cafe with a dedicated play area.
The photography is courtesy of Walter Van Beirendonck.
The post Walter Van Beirendonck designs space-themed playscape for Belgian arts campus appeared first on Dezeen.
