The Scotsman, 12 August 2006

Park Life - Inspired by Rennie Mackintosh’s House for an Art Lover, a new children’s play area mixes practicality with beauty - By Jessica Kiddle

When does a swing become a piece of art?  When does a sculpture become a slide?  First you have to have an artistic vision and then fuse it with the practical know-how to see through the project.  But here is something else you need as well: a passionate conviction that art should not only be enjoyable but accessible to people of all ages.

Bringing a new meaning to the words interactive art, the visionaries behind House for an Art Lover ‘s new children’s play park in Glasgow have all of the above and, as a result, have managed to merge the worlds of art and play.  Now, with the installation of two Bug Swings, they are hoping even more visitors will come their way.

Designed by sculptor and blacksmith Elspeth Bennie of blacksmith company Ironhorse Studios, the insect-shaped structures, which house sets of swings for toddlers and older children, are just one of the eye-catching commissions that have been placed in this unique play park.

Grounds for Play is the result of a collaboration between the department of Land Services at Glasgow City Council and House for an Art Lover.  It was formerly a disused recreation area but now forms an integral part of the city’s Bellahouston Park.

“We didn’t just want to build an average play park but something innovative and creative,” says Jimmy Cosgrove, director of House for an Art Lover.  “So, we held a competition and invited designers to submit plans for the garden which would offer something different.”

In this way the beginnings of Grounds for Play echo the origins of the House itself.  Designed in 1901 by Charles Rennie Mackintosh for a competition set by a German design magazine the House was finally built to his original designs between 1989 and 1996.  And, just as Mackintosh always insisted on marrying art with function, the judging panel for this project also insisted that the garden would combine the practical and the beautiful.

“We could have just picked up a catalogue and bought some swings and slides,” says architect David Leslie and chairman of House for an Art Lover.  “But what we wanted was a high aesthetic that would allow artists to show their work as well as stimulate public interest in art, design and architecture and we wanted to achieve this through the medium of the house.  However, it was also essential that it would be an entertaining and safe place in which children could play.”

With this in mind the “field of scattered leaves” landscape design from Glasgow’s Gareth Hoskins Architects came out on top.  “They treated the entire space like a green carpet that had leaves scattered all over it,” says Cosgrove.  “These leaves were to be made out of mounds of earth on which we could place the individual sculptural plays pieces.”

These 26 giant leaves or grassy mounds now house 15 play pieces for children to climb and jump all over.  One of the designs is a set of three free-standing structures called Clouds.  Created by Scottish architect Graeme Andrew and constructed by blacksmith Hector McGarva, these metal sculptures symbolise the movement of clouds.  One is a cloud-shaped slide while the others, constructed form contorted wire and flat sheets of metal, are multi-sensory pieces that move and jangle in the wind. 

For older children there is the Bellahouston Ship, designed by artists Alex Rigg and Trevor Leat.