city yeast+basurama upcycle urban waste into temporary playground

basurama is a spanish art collective focused on developing innovative uses of waste to highlight the importance of recycling resources in our consumerist society. on the other hand, city yeast is a design studio based in taipei devoted to creating experimental design action as a way to activate the city and its citizens. together, they have created ‘swings park’, a brightly-colored temporary playground completely built out of waste material. 

the iconic feature of the installation is the 4 meter high swing that is hardly seen nowadays

basurama and city yeast‘s intervention is part of the ‘re-create taipei’ initiative for the world design capital 2016 contest. the project aims to overturn monotone plastic playground equipments with urban waste resources, as well as expand people’s perspective of public spaces and park identity.

swings park is isolated from vehicles and motorcycles as a median island 

located underneath one of the busiest expressways of taipei, swings park now occupies this idle space. basurama found this place to be quite intriguing, even though noise and air pollutions create significant disturbance from the adjacent traffic flow. however, the high ceiling and local characteristics have proven to be potential game-changers.

the playground has received significantly positive responses from local citizens 

the swings park is primarily built out of two waste materials:  discarded street lamps owned by taipei city government and old cooling towers. as a result, the final structure is a 16.5 x 6.5 meters long and 4 meters high playground painted in bright yellow — allowing it to stand out in its monotonous context. in addition, team members have established four different sizes of swings by welding lampposts together, included a multifunctional platform, and designed a resting area shamed like a hammock. 

following the world design capital contest, swings park will be kept until 2017 to serve as an experimental park example for future urban regeneration plans. 

smaller swings with waste tires seats are designed specifically for children 

detail showing the up-cycled lamppost base

wire hammocks serve as resting areas

wooden multifunctional stages 

local inhabitants from different ages can enjoy themselves in the swings park

the intervention is part of the ‘re-create taipei’ project by world design capital 2016 international contest 

team members at work: city yeast and basurama 

swings park’s main structure comes from a government-owned lampposts landfill in taipei

the main structure of the lampposts is chosen based on the long stretch underneath the bridge

each lamppost is joined together via a welding technique 

recreate taipei
video courtesy of city yeast

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lea zeitoun | designboom