PROFILE: DAVID ROCKWELL


Imaginat ion Playground grew out of my experience post 9/11 and of being a father


viewing platform, rather than one just for VIPs. “At that time, there was no way to take in what had happened in a way that was not seen through a media filter,” he says. “We wanted to create a very simple, unmediated platform that would allow people to take in what had happened.” The team created a 300-ft long platform


from metal scaffolding, birch plywood and rough decking that was installed for eight months at the World Trade Center site. Raised 13ft above the ground, it provided 180 degree views and offered a quiet place for reflection for more than a million visitors.


“It was an astonishing experience,” says Rockwell. “It was a major affirmation of design as a way to make the world more understand- able, the power of collaboration and of having


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a mission, and the willingness of people to participate in something that was important.”


CHILD’S PLAY In an indirect way, this experience led on to what is possibly my favourite Rockwell project. Imagination Playground started life when one of the funders of the foundation established to raise money for the viewing platform asked what Rockwell was planning to do next with the foundation. At the time Rockwell had two young children, and their local park had been destroyed in the 9/11 attacks. “I was thinking about that playground, and I said to myself, ‘wouldn’t it be great to develop a totally new form of playground?”


What followed was five years of research, development and testing with the City of


CLAD mag 2015 ISSUE 2


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