A modest proposal for people with immodest means.
Previous generations of wealth left behind libraries, parks, museums and civic landmarks.
We think this generation should leave behind some really incredible places to play.
The precedent
Andrew Carnegie helped fund more than 2,500 public libraries around the world. Communities commonly provided land and committed to maintaining them. Carnegie helped build the thing.
More than a century later, many of those buildings still belong to everyday public life.
We think the model deserves another act.
This time,
add slides.
When you have extraordinary resources, build something ordinary people get to use.
A definition problem
That kind.
All four are real, public and already built. Yes, someone paid for them.
A playground can be a whale.
A forest.
A shipwreck.
A mountain.
A flock of enormous birds.
It can be one of the most memorable pieces of architecture in a city.
Let's stop treating playgrounds like equipment orders and start treating them like civic landmarks.
The evidence
Play isn't frivolous.
But it is allowed to be fun.
You have $3 million and an empty field. What are you building?
Build the playground you wish existed. Then put it in front of everybody.
The marketplace
This one has land, a city, a builder, and no money. This one has $5 million and nowhere to put it. This one has half the money and needs one more believer. This one is completely ready to build.
Baltimore, Maryland
A giant Chesapeake heron rises from a wetland-inspired play landscape, with climbing nets woven through its legs, slides tucked into its wings, boardwalks, reeds, water play, and a high lookout over the park.
Needs: Someone to say yes.
I could fund this
Dayton, Ohio
A neighborhood park already has the land, shade trees, maintenance commitment, and community backing. Now it needs someone imaginative enough to turn the place into a landmark.
Needs: A builder with a big imagination.
I build playgrounds
City, TBD
A donor is ready to fund an extraordinary space-themed playground. It just needs a city willing to give it somewhere to land.
Needs: A place to land.
I have landThree ways in
Twenty-five years from now, somebody could bring their child here and say:
“I used to climb that.”