African Design Magazine December 2014 | Page 64

Malawi is one of Africa’s leastdeveloped countries, and especially in the rural areas, the facilities are very limited. But this does not mean that there are no possibilities… I n co-operation with Sakaramenta, a social business based in the south of Malawi, designers Pim van Baarsen and Luc van Hoeckel designed a complete playground from scratch located at an old parking lot to the side of the BEIT Cure Hospital which specialises in orthopaedic treatments for children. Without a hangout and inspiring environment, most of the young patients were bored and stayed inside all day. With their limited mobility, they were sitting in their wheelchairs or just on the floor, watching the day’s pass by… Knowing this the two Dutch designers had a simple focus point; an inspiring, strong, sustainable playground created with the use of local materials. To get to know what materials were available and useful for the production of playground equipment, Luc and Pim did research at the scrapyards and old-metal markets. It was at these places where they found a guaranteed supply of certain parts such as tires, springs and axles. After clearing the parking lot adjacent to the hospital, Luc and Pim livened the space up with recycled materials turned into an inspiring playful place. Besides the playground equipment made out of old car parts, the centrepiece consists of a used ambulance vehicle that was found in a junk yard. Carefully redesigned and repainted, it forms a clubhouse that stimulates the children’s imagination. Equipped with a fireman’s pole-slide, climbing rack, vuvuzela, a 64 africandesignmagazine.com RE-USE