Pico strikes a delicate balance between repurposing the old, creating an abstract playscape and including pre-fabricated play equipment. Plant and material distribution form a diligent reference to an alluvial atmosphere, reflecting this water-rich Alpine region and local flora. The wall made of recycled concrete slabs offers a precious movement and coordination exercise, while the slabs placed on the grounds form an ambiguous playscape where children can continuously discover ways of interaction anew. It can be seen as an example of subtle reuse and re-interpretation on site.
- from the award statements
Pico Playground is located at the heart of a densely populated neighbourhood of Lugano, Switzerland. The project is the result of an initiative to renovate a series of neighbourhood parks making them more vibrant, inclusive and engaging play spaces. The playground was conceived as a landscape in miniature, bringing into the dense urban environment fragments of the local Ticino landscape as elements of free play for all ages.
The project is the renovation of an existing playground which was based on the obsolete play-educational logic of individual objects with predetermined play outcomes. The new playground prioritises open-ended play, enhanced contact with topography, biodiversity, and seasonal cycles. A new canyon, constructed of reclaimed concrete slabs, recalls the exposed geological stratigraphy present on Monte Bré, directly above the site, and suggests a new geology more reminiscent of our time. In addition to the use of recycled materials, climate adaptation and stormwater management are central to the park design.
The new topographic condition is enhanced, expanded and made more complex to create a series of environments and playscapes that activate the entire site for play and gathering. The result creates an unfolding spatial sequence and a wide diversity of environments within the small site allowing for an engaging play atmosphere with multiple opportunities for both physical and mental challenge.
The new canyon of reclaimed concrete slabs defines the main entrance to the park. On one side the recycled material is stacked and becomes a wall for urban bouldering, while on the other side the blocks make an informal seating and scrambling areas and a slope for spontaneous vegetation. This salvage concept was born out of the observation of the excessive consumption and short life cycle of cast-in-place concrete that is prevalent in the local building culture. The design intent was to select, gather and reuse these large blocks as they were found, with their unexpected shapes and sizes, to build a landscape that confronts us with the waste of our consumer society. The coarse and unfinished appearance, reminiscent of both ruined and future landscapes, is appropriate in defining a place dedicated to both adults and children.
The canyon is thus a topos in itself, to be explored in its scalable surface, full of roughness and ravines designed to provide shelter for both small nesting fauna and wild vegetation. In turn, the canyon is crossed by a light bridge made only of cables and rings that, with the thrill of suspension without rigid structures, challenges those who cross it and leads to the top of the hill. From here the park opens to the central play area that includes a water plaza with splashes activated only by body movement, the swing ring and the slide tower.
The central hill defines a street workout/climbing area close to the sport fields and, on the other side of the canyon, a dog park. These new programs bring additional life to the park and help to make it an open and welcoming social gathering place for all age groups within the neighbourhood.
All of the surface water is filtered through a series of rain gardens which bring biodiversity and seasonal change to the park. Large stones stud the rain gardens and make places for informal sitting, climbing and caulk drawing. The main rain garden is crossed by a walkway made of metal grate which allows continuous movement of vegetation and water percolation. This area, equipped with a picnic table and sand play zone, is the social gathering hub for the neighbourhood.
The vegetation was selected to bring more biodiversity and resilience to the urban environment which is projected to have the climate of Naples, Italy by 2040. Building on the unique bioclimatic zone of Ticino, which is the encounter of the Mediterranean and Continental climate zones, the plantings prioritise species and environments which are adapted to long periods of intense heat and drought. Forty new trees provide shade to the park and ensure an adequate ecological and climate mitigation function.
Location: Via Pico 28, 6900 Lugano
Design year: 2020
Year Completed: 2022
