Imagination Playground
Public Work
What if children built their own playgrounds?
Imagination Playground is a breakthrough playspace conceived and designed by Rockwell Group to encourage child-directed, free play in an interactive, immersive environment. Developed pro bono after years of collaborative playground study with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Imagination Playground has grown from a single project in lower Manhattan to two permanent locations and a global initiative, underscoring the firm’s commitment to improving quality of life for communities around the world.
Imagination Playground at Burling Slip in Manhattan’s South Street Seaport was the concept’s first permanent, site-specific location.
An ever-changing array of elements like giant foam blocks, moveable objects such as mats, wagons, bags and crates, as well as a sandpit and cascading water channel, allowed children to constantly reconfigure their environment, and design their own course of play.
In addition to devising their own games with sand, water and loose objects, children can engage multiple senses with sound funnels and speakers, water jets and an interactive, elevated ramp that weaves through the park.
To date, Imagination Playground has been deployed to hundreds of public parks, schools, daycare facilities, children’s museums and communities across the U.S. and internationally.