Rimbin 户外游乐场

In a post-COVID-19 world, this could be how playgrounds are designed

German designers Martin Binder and Claudio Rimmele have conceptualised an outdoor playground where kids can play safely

Rimbin relates to individual play areas in the park

As a response to the current scenario, Berlin-based designers Martin Binder and Claudio Rimmele have designed an imaginative playground known as ‘Rimbin' for children to play safely in. This avant-garde concept features a cluster of individual play areas shaped like Amazon water-lilies for kids to play in. The name ‘Rimbin' is a combination of two words—‘rim' for edge and ‘bin' for container. It describes the individual play areas of the park. ‘Rimbin' is also a combination of the first syllables of the surnames of the two designers—Claudio Rimmele and Martin Binder.

A Place for All

“In order to better understand the needs of parents and children, we conducted telephone interviews with several select parents and children who described their everyday life during the restrictions. For most parents, it was clear that a solution must be found to offer their children more physical activity with friends in nature. For children, social and physical stimuli are necessary for physical and mental development, and to learn important social skills. Rimbin is a special place where children can play, talk and laugh together without spreading viruses, and without losing the fun of child play,” states Rimmele.

A Unique Concept

The ‘Rimbin' is designed in such a way that it is fun and interactive while still being safe for children. In this circular playground, each child is given a single water-lily playing area. There is a separate entrance and individual path to each platform. Whether a play area is occupied or not, can be seen from the entrance. While each play area is of a different size, all of them have enough space for siblings or children from the same household to use only once. Also, while children in different water-lilies will not be in close proximity with each other, they can still see each other. Additionally, at all times, children will be visible to their parents.

“In highly populated areas we would propose playground supervisors to introduce time slots for children to spend on the play areas, to avoid an area being occupied by one child for several hours. Its modular concept allows it to adapt the number of play areas to the expected volume of playground visitors,” adds Binder.

A New Communication

Though ‘Rimbin' does not allow for direct human interaction, children can still communicate with each other though speaking tubes. These connecting tubes will enable kids to have a conversation through the simple laws of physics. The ‘Rimbin' park will feature interactive play options such as a seesaw and other physical games that can be played between different water-lilies. Thus, children can play various games with each other from a safe distance.