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https://reasonstobecheerful.world/anarchic-playgrounds-risk-berlin-kolle37/>
"Flaming stone fire pits, wonky swings, lopsided wooden forts, stacks of
hammers and saws, and even an abandoned automobile turned into a play den:
Kolle 37 is not your usual kind of kids’ recreation space.
This 4,000-square-meter, anarchic adventure playground in the heart of Berlin’s
central Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood is like the love child of a Wes Anderson
set designer and a steampunk doorman at the city’s infamous Berghain nightclub.
Also known as the Adventurous Construction Playground Kolle 37, this
unconventional educational space allows children to build — or, indeed, destroy
— structures as they see fit. (Parents can enter only one day a week, on
Saturdays.)
“To a lot of people it looks like junk and dirt, and [they think] that it isn’t
useful,” says Marcus Schmidt, who trained as a social worker before joining
Kolle 37 in 2005. “But here you get prepared for your future life.”
The idea is that “risky” adventure playgrounds like Kolle 37 permit and
encourage children to contend with genuine challenges from a young age, setting
them up to better deal with all kinds of obstacles in adulthood. Proponents say
they offer an important riposte to the risk-averse model of learning and play
that has become increasingly dominant in places like the U.S. and which critics
say limits early development.
In practice, that means that the pro-risk Kolle 37 is home to great piles of
wooden logs, half-built shacks and random structures, an impressive quantity of
mud and dirt, and beautiful leafy trees dotted throughout. And it’s constantly
changing.
“You have to talk to your neighbors,” says Schmidt, who is one of a handful of
full-time adult employees who oversee but do not interfere. “You share tools,
work with others, practice problem solving, compromise. It’s the democratic
process.”"
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
