Parc Des Cormailles, Agence TER, Ivry-sur-Seine France, 2005

photo by Eloise

 When France's Agence TER transformed an old industrial site in Ivry-sur-Seine, they preserved a pile of rubble as the site's 'beauty spot' and cleverly added a chic playground to its heavily sloping side.     

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Like the snail mounts of Elizabethan England the hill includes a winding spiral pathway to get to the top, where an elevated belevedere provides 'high chairs' for playful viewing.  Other parts of the park include a "graffiti-allowed" wall and canals with the classic French toy sailing boats. 

[source]

[source]

Thanks to reader Eloise, who lives nearby, for submitting this playground, which is yet another example of how playgrounds-should-not-be-flat whenever possible.  Agence TER's decision to preserve topography makes for an exciting,vertiginous play experience that a flat site just can't provide.  It's also interesting for all ages...older kids love the steep climbing wall but younger kids can be seen crawling up the more gently sloping areas, too. 

photo by Eloise

photo by Eloise

photo by Eloise