Let the children have their way...Let the children play

Singer-Songwriter legend Carlos Santana wasn't necessarily singing about Playground 89, on West 89th Street between Columbus and Amsterdam when he wrote "Let the Children Play" in 1976, but the playground, adjacent famed architect C. B. J. Snyder's P.S. 166 was first redesigned by landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg in 1967 so it is a possibility...

Photo Courtesy of Laurie Frey, Friends of Playground 89

The repetitive lyrics of the song remind us to let children be- they need to have fun, explore and find themselves.  The award-winning Friedberg knew this himself and incorporated as much fun into his designs as possible.  Playground 89 was "sunk three feet below grade for a sense of containment, it held a number of geometrized granite-block landforms--a mountain and canyons or caves--and an imaginative variety of playlinks, including springboards, bridges, fireman's poles, cables, and ladders.  The climbing mound concealed lavatories.  Trees were planted throughout the play area, including on top of a mound.  There were a tree house, a "spider's web" of cables suspended between posts, and an amphitheater with spray fountains" (Alison Dalton, M. Paul Friedberg's early Playground Designs in New York City).  Seminal at the time, playgrounds such as this would later be grouped into a category recognized as "Adventure Playgrounds" with others by Friedberg, Pei and Dattner among the most recognizable.

Playground 89 followed the fortunes of New York City.  The bathrooms were eventually shuttered and partially buried.  A revisit to the design in 1999 brought Friedberg a second act on the same site but with minimal funding it was more of a design simplification.  More recently, the NYC Parks Department proposed making alterations and shared their design with Community Board 7.

After lengthy negotiations between us, the Parks Department, and the Friends of Playground 89, work has begun on the renovations.  In an effort to modernize and make the playground more accessible, new ramps will be added, two sprinklers will be removed and the lowest step of the amphitheater will be filled, among other changes to the 1967 design.  A look back at the entire process is well encapsulated in The New York Observer.

A Morning at Play

The first official day of the Fall season may not be until tomorrow, but this morning's beautiful weather tempted us to celebrate a day early.  With blue skies on our side, we took a mid-morning romp through the Adventure Playground, located just a stone's throw from the LW! office, inside Central Park (at West 67th Street).

Tree houses in the Adventure Playground, Central Park.

It's no secret that the Adventure Playground, designed by Richard Dattner in 1967, has a special place in the hearts of West Siders.  We encourage you to swing by, kids in tow, and see for yourself how engaging and aesthetically this playground truly is.  Consider it your excuse to be a kid again!

Central Park is home to a collection of adventure-style playgrounds; take a tour via our Summer 2011 blog post, here. 

Hear (from Richard Dattner himself!) about the history of the Adventure Playground; just click on the image below:

Playtime in Central Park :: What goes up ...

... must come down, right lil' Charles S.?  Adventure Playground, just inside Central Park at West 67th Street, has gotten a good amount of bloglove during the photo series, and why shouldn't it!  As architect Richard Dattner's first adventure-style playground for Central Park, it kicked off a trend that would later include the Ancient Playground north of the Metropolitan Museum.

That equipment in the background look familiar?  We love seeing how the design of Central Park's playscapes continues to entertain young New Yorkers year after year, decade to decade.  We've seen Adventure Playground in the 70s, the 80s ... let's see it today!  Send your photo of this--or any!--Central Park play area and we'll add it to the series. 

Playful Design is Serious Fun in Central Park!

Summer Is Here In A Big Way, So Get Out And Play!     Recreation and play are serious art forms in Central Park! To help you plan your summer play, LANDMARK WEST! brings you a map paired with a few facts about the Central Park playgrounds! Learn about these creative play spaces - a full listing follows - but first, some of LW's favorites designed by renowned architect and lfUD fellow Richard Dattner (Follow Dattner Architects on Twitter!).   HECKSCHER PLAYGROUND - #1 (Find it on the map below!) The Heckscher Playground originally opened in 1926, and is named for its founder August Heckscher Sr., grandfather of August Heckscher III who served as Parks Commissioner under Mayor John V. Lindsay. The playground is both the largest (roughly 3 acres) and the oldest in Central Park, and is the only playground that is not located around the park's perimeter. Heckscher Playground is located at approximately 62nd Street at 7th Avenue, slightly west of the center of Central Park. The playground recently underwent a $6 million renovation/redesign and reopened to the public on May 12, 2006. It is located in one of the three locations originally designated for play in Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux's initial 1858 Greensward Plan for Central Park. If you're a kickball fanatic, this the place you want to be!    ADVENTURE PLAYGROUND - #3   Opened in 1967 the Adventure Playground was built by Robert Moses after the famous dispute surrounding a plan to create more parking for the privately-owned Tavern on the Green restaurant in Central Park at West 67th Street (now a visitor's center). The was the first of the "adventure playgrounds" designed by Mr. Dattner for Central Park. Born out of the World War II era, the adventure playground philosophy is that children would create play areas out of found materials, or debris. For this reason, they were sometimes also known as "junk" playgrounds.  Adventure playgrounds (our preferred name) encourage children to create their own play environments using their imaginations by utilizing tools and movable objects.  When controversial renovation plans for the playground arose in the late 1990s, LANDMARK WEST!, Friends of the Adventure Playground, and other members of the neighborhood met with Dattner, ultimately resulting in proposals for  the redesign. As landscape architect and city planner Michael Gotkin wrote in his essay The Politics of Play, "The Central Park Adventure Playground was a pivotal work of landscape design and survives as perhaps the most important extant modern playground in America." Landmark West! interviewed Richard Dattner. Click to view. Watch LW's interview with Richard Dattner as he discusses the history of the Adventure Playground by clicking the image.  Afterward, check out more of the great interviews that LANDMARK WEST! has done with prominent figures of New York City architecture.  The Institute for Urban Design (@IfUD) tweeted a great way to learn why Dattner's early design work continues to spark discussion.    EAST 72ND STREET PLAYGROUND - #5 This playground features tire swings, wooden climbing structures, sand, a stone slide, a water tower, and a net "spider web" for climbing. It is situated adjacent to the East Green. Generally a busy playground, the East 72nd Street Playground is an excellent playground for older children because of its many interactive play features.  ANCIENT PLAYGROUND (aka - Ancient Play Garden) - #12  Mr. Dattner designed this playground with the Egyptian art of the neighboring Metropolitan Museum of Art in mind. The spray shower in the park is analogous to the African nation's Nile River. Other references to ancient Egypt include obelisks that allude to Cleopatra's Needle, climbing pyramids that reflect the Temple of Dendur, a vast sand area representing the Egyptian landscape, and a sundial.  The Ancient Playground is located just to the north of the Museum, at 85th Street. The playground underwent a renovation in 2009, and as part of that effort the Osborn Gates by Paul Manship (built 1953, removed 1972 due to vandalism) were restored. WILD WEST PLAYGROUND - #15 You guessed it! This almost-entirely-wood playground was designed to resemble a frontier town.  Featuring the key ingredients of children's play, a water "river" runs through it, allowing children to build sand castles and to cool off in the summer. The Wild West Playground is near Central Park's Tennis House (the focus of an LW! advocacy campaign) between 94th and 96th Street. ______________________________________________________________   POP QUIZ!  The Question...  According to Robert Moses, why are nearly all of the playgrounds in Central park located near entrances, along the perimeter of the park? See the answer after the maps below! ______________________________________________________________    Let this map help you navigate your summer fun in the playgrounds of Central Park.   And for a little extra enjoyment, see where the Central Park Playgrounds fall on a map of Central Park from 1875, long before the playgrounds existed as we know them today. Full listing, below. Hinrichs' 1875 Guide Map of the Central Park with the modern parks marked out in red. Click to enlarge.  Playgrounds on the Map Heckscher Playground,  at 59th Street at 7th Avenue    Tots Playground,  at West 67th Street  Adventure Playground,  at West 67th Street   Billy Johnson Playground,  at East 66th Street  East 72nd Street Playground,  at East 72nd Street   James Michael Levin Playground,  at East 77th Street   Pat Hoffman Friedman - Three Bears Playground,  at East 80th Street  Diana Ross Playground,  at West 81st/82nd Street  Mariners' Playground,  at West 85th Street  Abraham and Joseph Spector Playground,  at West 86th Street  Arthur Ross Pinetum Playground,  at West 85th Street  Ancient Playground,  at East 85th Street  East 96th Street Playground,  at East 96th Street  Safari Playground,  at West 91st Street  Wild West Playground,  at West 93rd Street  Rudin Family Playground,  at West 96th Street  Tarr Family Playground,  at West 100th Street  Robert Bendheim Playground, at East 100th Street  Bernard Family Playground, at East 108th Street Lenox Avenue Playground, at 110th Street at Lenox Avenue West 110th Street Playground, at West 110th Street   POP QUIZ - The Answer is... "Located near the major entrances, [the playgrounds] intercept children on the way into the park and provide a place in which excess energy can be worked of without damage to the park surroundings." -Robert Moses    BEAT THE HEAT!   Stay inside and still explore the Upper West Side     Download the FREE LANDMARK WEST WALKING TOUR app and access photos and facts about historic neighborhood buildings, all from the comfort of your home.       Click here to DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE COPY   of the LANDMARK WEST! Walking Tour app for iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch, today! IMAGE AT LEFT: The southern tower of the San Remo Apartments, as seen from Central Park. 145-146 Central Park West, between W. 74th St. and W. 75th St. Built: 1929-1930. Architect: Emery Roth.

On the Hunt :: Happy Easter from the folks at LW!

It's been a spell since we logged some blog time, and it would seem that sharing our Easter Egg Hunt joy with our friends and neighbors is a great way to break the lull!

Our resident Staff Activity Guru, Cristiana, tucked 20 candy and fun-filled pastel eggs throughout the LW! bunker for Arlene, Kate, Debi, and Andrew to seek out.  And in places near and dear to their hearts ...

 

 

Hope Debi notices the surprise before preparing that pot of always-necessary morning brew.

 

 

Arlene's list of daily phone calls just got a little sweeter to make.

  

 

Stay hydrated, Kate.  And do so festively!

 

 

 Andrew loves editing video and sound clips.  Hopefully he loves his treat even more!

 

Mixing business (some recommended* architecture, history and "why not!" reading, take note!) with pleasure.  Happy Easter, all!

 

 * Some of the books featured in this photo:

The Mythic City: Photographs of New York by Samuel H. Gottscho (1925-1940), by Donald Albrecht

A New Light on Tiffany: Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls, by Margi Hofer, Martin Eidelberg and Nina Gray

Talking Lines, by R.O. Blechman

Mansions in the Clouds: The Skyscraper Palazzi of Emery Roth, by Steven Ruttenbaum

Design for Play, by Richard Dattner

and, of course, Zoning Handbook: A Guide to New York City's Zoning Resolution, by the Dept. of City Planning (it's a page turner!)