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
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