ALDO VAN EYCK

‘It is the ring and the disc I am particularly attracted to  ̶  not radials, which is why I draw circles round odd tins, saucers and plates instead of using a compass (the ancient Peruvians worshipped both sun and moon, were incomparable highway builders, yet managed without wheels  ̶  and that makes sense!)'.

‘The play equipment for the playgrounds was designed bit by bit over the years and subsequently continually amplified, modified and adjusted. Together the items constitute ‘families’ of elementary abstract forms according to the material used: aluminium, steel, wood or concrete, all of which respond to the basic urge to climb, swing, creep, crawl, hop, stretch, hang, balance and somersault. Mobile equipment like swings, seesaws, and large roundabouts were avoided on all the smaller unattended playgrounds. Gaudy vehicular and animalesque gadgets available on the market were added willy-nilly spoiling the visual homogeneity whilst contributing nothing to the child’s basic repertoire of movements'.

Aldo van Eyck

Liane Lefaivre (e.a) 'A psychogeographic cycle tour of Amsterdam playgrounds by  Aldo van Eyck', in Archis No. 3, 2002.