Turning Rainwater Into a Playground

Posted by John Farrier in Architecture on November 8, 2009 at 3:12 pm



Image: De Urbanisten and Studio Marco Vermeulen

Two Dutch architects want to alter the storm drainage system of the city of Rotterdam to redirect water into playgrounds. The water will be used to fill fanciful ponds and moats for children to play in/around:

In Florian Boer and Marco Vermeulen’s proposal, rainwater runoff isn’t funneled into a complex system of underground pipes, a system that is rather expensive to build and maintain, but is managed instead through a network of surface reservoirs, the Waterpleinen, or Watersquares. These storage spaces will be dry for most of the year, but during storm events, they will collect water from the surrounding neighborhood. If one reaches capacity, excess water will overflow into another basin. After the rain, the collected water will slowly recede into nearby bodies of water or seep into the soil.

So instead of being buried in concrete, excised from the daily life of the city and only experienced by municipal workers, urban hydrology is visibly, even prominently, incorporated into the surface fabric of the city. Programmed with recreational opportunities when its dry and even while inundated, its infrastructure provides active public spaces for the local area, not dark playgrounds for a handful of urban explorers. It even becomes an event, its frolicking rivulets and interior lakes staged for the young and old.

Link via Fast Company


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COMMENT

27 comments to "Turning Rainwater Into a Playground"

  1. R00B0y
    November 8th, 2009 at 3:31 pm

    But if these are dry for more of the time, when the rains and water do come... what types and volume of garbage would be flushed into the "playgrounds" for the little kiddies to be exposed to?

    I can't imagine that it would be very safe to let little children play in heavy metal and all the other types of effluent that was down storm drains.

    Take a look at the next storm water drain, and the look at the goo collected at the bottom of the hole and ask yourself if you want to wade knee deep in there and then spend the rest of the morning wandering around in your disease suit?

    Nice in theory, but unless they can some how clean the water before it gets to the kids playground this is a very bad idea

  2. ECA
    November 8th, 2009 at 4:05 pm

    Yes, agree'd.

    A nice small Filtration system for each site would be cool..Then cleaned out when the season changes..
    Insted of 1 Location to clean water, a diverse Clean up system.
    To many people think, MIXING all the good and BAD in 1 spot is better then CLEANING it up by AREA.

  3. SenorMysterioso
    November 8th, 2009 at 4:40 pm

    Seems like a bad idea

  4. K!P
    November 8th, 2009 at 5:05 pm

    ofcourse there would be a filter system, just like now. Thing is, the extra maintanace wil likely be done because the netherlands HAVE to live with water. (since its below sealevel for large parts) This wil help to make some aspects of water management visable.

  5. Edward
    November 8th, 2009 at 5:06 pm

    No one should let their children play in or around urban runoff.

  6. Tim Giachetti
    November 8th, 2009 at 5:18 pm

    But K!P...
    Oil makes such pretty rainbows in the water!!
    Killjoy. lol :P

  7. K!P
    November 8th, 2009 at 5:26 pm

    i played in the rain plenty of times :) no problem :) its not the sewer! And it rains pretty *&^^ often here annyway, so it would be low concentrate dirt :P

  8. JMM
    November 8th, 2009 at 5:34 pm

    Ewwwwww. Gross.

  9. Geekazoid
    November 8th, 2009 at 5:44 pm

    Yea filter please.

  10. OddNumber
    November 8th, 2009 at 5:58 pm

    I like the concept. However, the space is not very interesting when water is not present. I would also be concerned about the filtration. I don't believe that run off filtration is kept to the same standards of drinking water. Probably not the best environment for children.

  11. OddNumber
    November 8th, 2009 at 6:00 pm

    Another concern might be the length of time the water stays there. Pollution (including kidos peeing) would build up and could also become a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other disease spreading bugs. Some type of constant filtration would be recommended.

  12. bud
    November 8th, 2009 at 6:16 pm

    If rainwater was only clean as rainwater should be. But in an urban environment, it is one step removed from sewage, as rain washes all the trash away.

    One should note however, that these plans do not seem to include swimming as much as jumping over puddles.

  13. Hans
    November 8th, 2009 at 7:18 pm

    Those who have commented, raise your hand if you've visited the Waterpleinen website? Nobody? Yeah, thought so.

    Granted the most informative stuff is all in Dutch, so here's another raise-your-hand poll: who here thinks the city of Rotterdam (which will build not only the watersquares but also a much larger stormwater infrastructure, of which these outdoor reservoirs are just part of it), will actually allow stormwater to go unfiltered and let children play in mucky water?

    Judging from the comments, looks like most of you will be raising your hands. *sigh*

  14. Poesje
    November 8th, 2009 at 7:22 pm

    There's also the thing that Dutch people have the habit of letting their dogs shit next to the curb without removing the poop afterwards.

  15. Arielle
    November 8th, 2009 at 7:37 pm

    I'm sure mothers would love that...
    a park where their children are encouraged to play in dirty water.

    OH! Also the majority of it looks like it is made of concrete or at the very least something hard where their children can chip their teeth.

    Doi!

  16. ted
    November 8th, 2009 at 10:50 pm

    Looks like a good spot for graffiti and skateboarding.

    I like the "frolicking rivulets". I can't remembre the last time I saw a rivulet frolic.

  17. pwscott
    November 8th, 2009 at 11:40 pm

    The better promotion would be the government providing rain collection to the public. Collecting rain at the residence and filtering it to washing machines and toilets would save any city county or state, millions of dollars.

  18. Wes
    November 9th, 2009 at 12:34 am

    Jesus ... when did everyone become a naysayer? Oh, right. When everyone was allowed to publish an opinion without having to actually defend it from an informed rebuttal. Everyone here actually thinks that no one has thought about the sanitation level of the water?

    As for the playground being made of tooth-chipping concrete, I say you gotta learn how to avoid injury somehow. Making everything out of Nerf is no way to instill survival skills.

  19. Betseflets
    November 9th, 2009 at 12:59 am

    Like Hans said, you guys/gals did't read the website of waterpleinen.

    This picture looks just like Heemraadsplein though, which is a stone-throw away from where i live, i look forward to seeing it.

    I myself a involved in a 330 m2 green roof over my head, buffering almost 7000 liters of water if necessary.

  20. Larfin Jackarse
    November 9th, 2009 at 1:44 am

    @Wes...what would you know.

    They should be careful, it might attract Zombies.

  21. Juice
    November 9th, 2009 at 9:12 am

    Mommy, can I go play in the city runoff?

  22. OddNumber
    November 9th, 2009 at 9:21 am

    Hans - So where does the waterpleinen site talk about filtration? I haven't been able to find any reference so I would appreciate you pointing me in the right direction if it is actually discussed somewhere.

    Wes - Arielle's comment brings up a good point to consider. Intentionally pouring uneven pavement in a park intended for young children seems a bit off.

  23. earl
    November 9th, 2009 at 10:22 am

    Another harebrained scheme brought to us by the "Avant-garde".

  24. Craig
    November 9th, 2009 at 1:04 pm

    They should add a playground where kids can play with rusty scrap metal and broken glass.

  25. Wes
    November 9th, 2009 at 4:52 pm

    "Intentionally pouring uneven pavement in a park intended for young children seems a bit off."

    When I was a kid, playgrounds were made of huge wooden beams, metal poles, chains and tires, surrounded by yards of gravel, all potentially injury-inducing. I survived and so did all my friends. We also learned to look where we were going, that splinters wouldn't kill us, that crushed rock wasn't something to wrestle on, and most important, sliding down the slide in shorts during the height of summer was a very bad idea.

    When I was a little bit older, I enjoyed running around the Leonhardt Lagoon in Dallas (http://tinyurl.com/ydtknty) and the Fort Worth Water Gardens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Worth_Water_Gardens), both of which comprised -- guess what -- concrete and water.

    I know I'm turning into a crotchety old man, but frankly today's plastic-bubble playgrounds make me sad. Raising kids in an entirely padded environment produces adults with no coping skills the same way raising them in a sterile, antibacterial setting produces adults with weak immune systems.

    Let your kids get a few bruises and scrapes! Concrete only hurts when you aren't careful.

  26. OddNumber
    November 12th, 2009 at 10:42 am

    Wes - I'll clarify my comment. I think the playground you described is reasonable. My intent was not to say concrete shouldn't be used because kids might fall, outdoor basketball courts are a great example of where it works great! My point was really that unevenly poured concrete (the ridges used to confine the water) just doesn't seem smart in a space where the intent is for young kids to run around and be "kids".

    BTW - the two examples you provided look like great implementation of water and concrete, but the intention of the space is different. I don't think there is anything wrong with those spaces because I suspect people realize there is reason to take caution, whereas the space proposed in this project would encourage different behavior.

  27. mc lee family
    November 18th, 2009 at 1:58 pm

    David Gavriloff , builds the finest ramps , transformed our back yard into an amazing skate park instantly making us the most popular people on the block possibly all of sonoma ,,he was quick in one day he had installed 14 ramps miniramps 1half pipe and a huge drop into our pool with silky smooth transitions no one builds like this guy ,, pro ,, thanks to him and his team , we are home to stay ,, enjoying our home and family life like never befor ,, all due to david gavirloff g ramps ,,,


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