PALMA creates pop-up playground inside a historic fountain in mexico city

a historic fountain in mexcio city was turned into a playground for the local population. a plywood structure envelopes the concrete element and invites pedestrians to come and lounge in the sun and jump in the water. the scheme is just unusual enough for kids to love it as well. two separate elevations undulate like waves around the circular pool of water. from there, a web of ropes stretches from the interior plywood panels, serving as a kind of creative transition into the fountain.

all images by onnis luque

this unorthodox structure entitled ‘AROS’ by young mexico city-based studio PALMA invites all to the blue water within. it was the winning proposal for the ‘urban toys’ competition, commissioned by laboratorio para la ciudad and the mexico city government with the objective of ‘developing a sort of temporary playground in the historical center of the city, specifically in loreto square.’

placing their structure within the confines of the iconic plaza fountain, PALMA took full advantage of the spontaneous play that exists already and embellished it. the architects say they ‘avoided interrupting the everyday flow and activities of people on this square. by using the preexisting elements of the square such as benches we create a safe and visible environment where children can explore freely.’

the design is built with different types of play in mind, of all which are influenced by the physical space around the child. the two circular ramps, the water, and the net, ‘produce moments of moderate risk, which encourage interaction and dynamic play.‘ furthermore the architects tell us ‘the concentric nature of the proposal also creates a series of thresholds which can be real or imaginary.’ 

project info:

project name: aros – ‘urban toys’ competition / loreto square – 1st prize
project architect: palma (ilse cardenas, regina de hoyos, diego escamilla, juan luis rivera)teams: tonatiuh armenta
contractor: la invencible
photography: onnis luque
location: loreto square, historic center, mexico cityyear: 2018
area: 140m2