Aldo Van Eyck: The Playgrounds and the City

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Summary: An overlooked project by an overlooked architect
Review: I am so glad that a book was finally written focusing on the 700+ Amsterdam playgrounds of Aldo Van Eyck - an extreemly signifigant and important group of urban small-scale architectural projects that have been, up until this point, largely unrecognized and overlooked for their signifigance and influence. (you all have probably climbed on an Aldo ven Eyck designed junglegym at some point in your lives) The book was written in accordance with an exhibit at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, a museum important to Aldo's theoretical development. It offers a thurough overview of the playgrounds in thier physical, historical, cultural, political, and archtiectural contexts. And...one of the bonus features of this book: there is an impressive collection of before and after photographs of some of the sites around the city. It is impressive that a simple and understated design using simple archtiectural elements such as this, when inserted into a vacant and overlooked lot in an urban context, can completely transform the area into a vibrant center of activity.