The rich diversity of human interaction linked to intergenerational play can be directly influenced by the settings within which play occurs.i Unfortunately, pre-designed manufactured structures dotted throughout our urban settings have no reason to connect to their surrounding environment nor do they encourage the mixing of different age groups. Reinforcing this rejection of object-based play, Miguel Sicart states, "I see play as a portable tool for being. It is not tied to objects but brought by people to the complex interrelations with and between things that form daily life."ii When the complexity of play is reduced to selecting objects from a catalog, allowing safety and liability concerns to outweigh the social and health benefits of play, it becomes clear that the relationship between landscape and play deserves deeper attention. A close observation of play spaces in Denmark and France illustrates a positive shift.

 
All of the precedent projects in this article offer alternative design approaches that also acknowledge safety concerns. For example, the creative manipulation of the ground plane creates shared surfaces that invite intergenerational play while keeping people on the ground where the risk of falling is eliminated. On the other hand, the Copenhagen skatepark features faceted surfaces that can be shared by skateboarders and adventurous children alike. In this scenario, personal responsibility for one's own safety by being vigilant of the presence of each other is likely a more European attitude, less acceptable within an American litigious environment.
Shared surfaces act as landforms that can facilitate the integration of play areas into surrounding terrain. Within Copenhagen's Faelledparken, a large swath of undulating rubber ground with embedded trampolines becomes a shared surface for play, seamlessly part of the surrounding park. Unlike typical manufactured play structures, where it is clear that adults do not belong, the rubber topography is a welcoming space upon which parents, grandparents and children are all equally present in the play scene. In another area of the park, a network of slightly elevated logs on the forest floor creates physical challenges appropriate for all ages. Parc des Buttes-Chaumont in Paris features a unique use of concrete that is cast to imitate natural rock. The result is a park where play opportunities abound throughout; whether it's a water feature next to a walking path or the cracks between flat surfaces, play is already built into the park's infrastructure without the need for distinctly marked play areas.

Intergenerational play enables children, adolescents and adults to engage in meaningful human interaction with each other. Landscape design can lay the groundwork for shared environments through space, material and form but ultimately it is the people as performers in these spaces who are the true creators.

i Ozawa, D., Rafeedie, S., Nguyen, A. Q. D., Seidner, E., & Tang, R. (2016, March). Play in Urban Environments Across Ages and Abilities. Led 6-hour workshop at the 2016 Annual Spring Symposium of the Occupational Therapy Association of California (OTAC), March 19, 2016, San Diego, CA.

ii Sicart, M. (2014). Play Is. In: Play Matters. MIT Press

As seen in LASN magazine, April 2020.