Making Playground Art
April 2026
My dad’s friends doing a post-assembly trial run, 1980s
When my dad passed away, I was going through his things and found a worn set of books about playgrounds. Odd. I had never really thought about who designed playgrounds, or why someone would write books about them. They were just there.
But my father had built them. In the 1980s, he designed wooden play sculptures for schools in the Netherlands: structures that worked as playground equipment, but were also artworks. He did this on the side while teaching highschool (Fontein Mavo, Bussum).
This post is a tribute to those pieces. Most of them are gone, though a few are still out there, and I want to gather what remains before they disappear completely. I’ll start with the story, then make a catalogue of all the work I’ve been able to trace.
By the time I was born, he had already built his last one.
1% Rule
In Holland, new building projects had to spend 1% of their budget on art. My dad found a smart angle: sculptural playground pieces that counted as art and were still meant to be climbed on, played on, and used.
Artist Provenance
Honore, my great-grandfather, made his living in the wooden clogs business. When people stopped wearing clogs, he went badly out of business. (This is why my father was the only kid at school still wearing wooden clogs into the 60s.)
Theo, my grandfather, pivoted to importing raw lumber. Then that trade changed too, as milling moved closer to the source, and he also went out of business.
My father, Onno, wanted instead to be a sculptor, mostly working in wood. That never became a full-time career, so he took a different path.
Most of the pictures below were taken by my father, and all of them come from our family archive.
Commissioning
If there are serious woodworkers out there who would like to attempt to rebuild these pieces, I’d love to fund their efforts.
All Known Works
The Wave
| Named by Artist | Unknown |
|---|---|
| Location | St. Adelbertus School, Elementary school in Alkmaar, Netherlands |
| Built | 1986 |
| Status | 2026 - Still being played on |
In the news article below, the arist explained wanting to make a flowing wave to contrast the stately school.
The Triangles
| Named by Artist | Unknown |
|---|---|
| Location | De Rank, Elementary school in Julianadorp, Netherlands |
| Built | Unknown |
| Status | 2026 - Appears to be gone |
Wim-Sjoerd van Rosmalen
Step Up
| Named by Artist | Unknown |
|---|---|
| Location | Unknown |
| Built | Unknown |
| Status | Unknown |
The Bridge
| Named by Artist | Unknown |
|---|---|
| Location | Unknown |
| Built | Unknown |
| Status | Unknown |
The Castle
| Named by Artist | Unknown |
|---|---|
| Location | Unknown |
| Built | Unknown |
| Status | Unknown |
The Hourglass
| Named by Artist | Unknown |
|---|---|
| Location | Unknown |
| Built | Unknown |
| Status | Unknown |
The Splat
| Named by Artist | Unknown |
|---|---|
| Location | Unknown |
| Built | Unknown |
| Status | Unknown |
The Propeller
| Named by Artist | Unknown |
|---|---|
| Location | Unknown |
| Built | Unknown |
| Status | Unknown |
The Locust
| Named by Artist | "De Sprinkhaan" |
|---|---|
| Location | Unknown |
| Built | Unknown |
| Status | Unknown |
The Spider
| Named by Artist | "De Spin" |
|---|---|
| Location | (?) Koedijk |
| Built | Unknown |
| Status | Unknown |
The Knot
| Named by Artist | Unknown |
|---|---|
| Location | Unknown |
| Built | Unknown |
| Status | Unknown |
Penaflor
| Named by Artist | Penaflor |
|---|---|
| Location | Unknown |
| Built | Unknown |
| Status | Unknown |
The Duck
| Named by Artist | Unknown |
|---|---|
| Location | Unknown |
| Built | Unknown |
| Status | Unknown |
I actually know nothing about this piece, but looks like a happy customer.
