LASN is a photographically oriented, professional journal featuring topics of concern and state-of-the-art projects designed or influenced by registered Landscape Architects.
Issue link: https://landscapearchitect.epubxp.com/i/85881
client that understood the potential. River Legacy is Arlington's largest park (1,031 acres). Situated along the Trinity River in north Arlington, the park reaches across its entire border, touching three other north Texas cities. Fourteen miles of trails wind through largely undisturbed forests, fields and wetlands, allowing park users endless opportunities to interact with a natural river ecosystem. Organized active recreation like softball, soccer and tennis are not permitted in the park. The park is dedicated to nature, and related activities are constantly promoted by the city and the River Legacy Foundation, a private body that encourages education, recreation and preservation. "We wanted to do something exciting, something different, something special," explains landscape architect Kurt Beilharz, the Arlington Park project manager. "We quickly assembled a design team, including city staff and GameTime, a private playground manufacturer, to begin planning the playground. The challenge was obvious: How could we truly incorporate a natural play experience and at the same time respect the laws and regulations that sometimes encumber creativity?" Into the Canopy We visited several "nature" playgrounds and saw the latest glass fiber-reinforced concrete sculptures. Several parks in the area had structures that resembled trees set in an open lawn surrounded by wood chips, but that somehow didn't seem "natural." And we read about the latest efforts to bring play into a natural environment, particularly in Europe, but these also lacked opportunities for real interaction. That is when team member and landscape architect Gary Kutilek suggested we elevate the playground up into the trees. Everyone immediately realized the potential for such a Above GameTime's PlayWorx division took the vision of landscape architects John Fain and Gary Kutilek to create a fully enclosed, vinyl-coated cable net system tunnel that takes children up into the tree canopy. October 2012 75