100 Objects from Century of the Child

Richard Dattner. Plan for an adventure playground, Central Park, New York. 1966

Dattner, an architect inspired by the playscapes of Isamu Noguchi (on display here), became a leading figure of the playground revolution and, with landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg, established New York as its epicenter in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Dattner designed six playgrounds in Central Park, including the Adventure Playground at West Sixty-seventh Street and Central Park West in 1967. The ground at this site was covered with sand, which kept adults at bay, and featured climbing pyramids, a splashing pool, an amphitheater, a hill-in-a-hill, a tree pit, a volcano, tunnels, and slides. With the help of private funding, Dattner was able to introduce adult play facilitators and loose elements (such as planks, blocks, slotted boards, sacks, paper, and paint) for building and creative experimentation.

Learn more at MoMA.org/centuryofthechild