The Vondelpark is a popular park in Amsterdam, used by visitors and residents alike. As part of a renovation of the park, Carve was asked to design two interventions, the Towers and the Canopy Walk. These relatively small interventions have a significant impact on the space of the park, creating new ways of experiencing the environment.
These two playing towers were designed for a playground at one of the entrances to the Vondelpark. Inspired by the architecture of the adjacent pavilion, which was constructed in 1927 in an Indonesian colonial architectural style. The footprint of the towers connects two existing circular playgrounds, which were designed by the renowned Dutch architect Aldo van Eyck (LINK) in the early 1960s. Splitting a single tower in two afforded interesting design opportunities. It allowed for the preservation of a sightline to surrounding colonial buildings, and for two distinct tower interiors to be designed.
One of these interiors is based on a series of platforms and provides access to the lower slide, while the other one contains a challenging rope circuit that leads to a transparent bridge 7 meters above the ground. From the second tower, it is possible to reach the big slide.
