2008
Emily Carr Thesis Project

Play Dots is a playground system consisting of circular islands. The playground allows different personalities and age groups to find their own comfort zones while providing amusement and interaction with others. The open-ended layout enables different components to be rotated or expanded over time. Play Dots encourages young children to find their own path and venture out dot by dot.

The playground is a fundamental tool for children’s social and physical development, therefore, what they play with greatly matter for their growth. In cities, the playground is one of the few outdoor facilities where children have free access, but often times, playgrounds are seen as boring, and sometimes abandoned. It is time to redefine the functions of the future playground. Play Dot is developed with the consideration that most social needs of children will not significantly change — to acquire self confidence, social value, and exercise.

Play Dots will act like the heart of a community to provide people of all ages a place to rest, interact and play. For instance, in the morning an elderly walks his dog around Play Dots, and a toddler comes with her caregiver to play on the Babble Balls. After school, children fill up the Crosslide and Bumpswing. In the evening, the teens hang out on the Moon-Go-Round while a couple takes a stroll on the illuminating Musical Bridge after supper. Play Dots can connect the whole neighbourhood throughout different times of the day.

In order to make sure that the elements of Play Dots could be financially accessible to a wide range of communities, the pieces have been designed to be producible using generally accessible technology: metalwork, rotation molding, PUR foam, and recycled rubber.