Design Map · Eindhoven
Building Its Playground
Graduation project by Mia Duchaufour-Lawrance at Design Academy Eindhoven, 2026. Shown during Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven on Design Map, location F5.
Working closely with pupils at a school in Southern France that lacked basic playground equipment, Mia Duchaufour Lawrance developed a methodology of co-building with 8-10 year olds to translate their needs into furniture. During two creative workshops, the children became urban planners and designers, expressing their needs and developing them through a process of sketching and modelling. What emerged was a playground infrastructure that responded to many different needs: a calm space to sit and draw, a canopy to protect from the sun, a window for observing nature, and seating elements that can be easily reconfigured. The resulting system is moveable, adaptable and modular in a way that can be connected and reconfigured with wooden pegs, so that students can choose between group play or solitary moments. While this design comes from one group of pupils, the co-design methodology can be adapted and used in schools elsewhere.