Here’s one take on the 21st century carousel:
“Ecosistema Urbano has designed this play structure with two particular focuses in mind. The first is to promote education through play. We believe that teaching children about alternative methods for generating electrical power with their own physical experiences, sends a subtle message about the potential for creative and a more sustainable approach to urbanism.
Second, is to use efficient materials that also serve to highlight the project’s unique design. The kinetic energy released by the children’s hanging and turning on the ropes is captured via carousel structure and stored in a battery underneath the play site. This energy is used to generate the lighting in the evenings. The mechanism of energy production and lightning is so simple as a bike dynamo. The color of the lights also changes according to how much energy has been generated by the children on any particular day.”
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m uncomfortable with the idea of energy-generating play features in developing areas, because of their potential to be used coercively. But that’s unlikely to happen in such a public urban space, and this is an interesting and engaging proposal…currently under development.
[images and text from Ecosistema Urbano; found at archdaily]
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