Monstrum: Inspiring Playground Design

The Cod at Vejlebro School near Copenhagen

I absolutely love the Danish playground design team known as Monstrum (meaning behemoth or monster).  They are responsible for a gaggle of gorgeous playgrounds across Scandinavia (as well as in the UK), with many in the city of Copenhagen.  Their designs are uncomplicated, but totally inspiring - the colors and forms are beautiful and inviting, and the structures are elegant and solidly built. While they hold obvious appeal for a child, this kind of design is terribly alluring for adults too - I know I’m drawn in just looking at them.  It did not surprise me to learn that the founders - Ole B. Nielsen and Christian Jensen - have a background in theater design.

The Blue Whale in Gothenburg, Sweden

 Spider and Mushrooms in Hillerod, Denmark

The Pike in Annedals Park in Stockholm

We got to play in one of these when we visited Tivoli, in Copenhagen.  “Petzi’s World” (on Monstrum’s site they call it Rasmus Klump Land) nestles in a corner of the park and is filled with delightful structures drawn from the world of Comic Book favorite Petzi (or Rasmus Klump). While kids gave themselves over to play within the enchanted maritime landscape, adults chatted amiably amid sweetly painted structures and sculptural elements (we met a nice family from Greenland).

Rasmus Klump Land in Tivoli, in Copenhagen

At Fælledparken in Copenhagen, the newish playground by Monstrum (completed in late 2011) includes interpretations of five of Copenhagen’s most famous towers: City Hall’s tower, the tower of Our Saviour’s Church (Vor Frelsers Kirke), the Round Tower, the dome of the Marble Church (Marmorkirken), and the Stock Exchange (Borsen) Tower. I love the way real architectural ideas are incorporated into play buildings.

Fælledparken in Copenhagen

This unexpected playscape incorporates a giant roly-poly bug, in part because (in the words of the designers): “it is really a creature we don’t see enough.”  Here and there, interesting facts about roly poly bugs are carved into the wood.

The Roly Poly Playground in Gentofte, Denmark

One dramatic playground illustrates the perils of the Bermuda Triangle, complete with broken ships, airplanes, and a surfacing whale.  Just the place for a child to safely explore some dangerous situations...

The Bermuda Triangle in North Bridge Park (Norrebroparken) in Copenhagen

All of these photos are from Monstrum's own website; I encourage you to visit the site for more pictures and projects!

Copenhagen, Denmark

What follows is a verrrry incomplete list of Places You Must Take Your Child While in Copenhagen (or Kobenhavn) – after all, we were there for less than a week!  Not nearly enough time to do everything we wanted.  So instead of an exhaustive list, I’ll tell you what we did do that was wonderful – which was just about everything!  What fabulous spots did you find while in Copenhagen?   

Tivoli Let’s just get this one out of the way, because, come on: TIVOLI!  It’s always the first thing on everyone’s list.  Yes, it was fun.  However our son was too short to go on most of the rides (he was 5 1/2), so we spent much of our time there at Petzi’s World, which is an admittedly delightful playground within Tivoli.  We also spent an insanely long time in line waiting to order food. I think next time we may skip Tivoli and head to Bakken, another historic pleasure park located outside of the city, in a more bucolic setting. 

Petzi's World at Tivoli

National Museum of Denmark The National Museum is a winner for everybody – beautiful displays of art, artifacts, interior architecture, mummies, etc. There is also a wonderful kid’s play area that includes a Viking boat, enchanting settings for dress-up and make-believe, and lots of opportunities for climbing and hiding.

Rosenborg Palace Garden We could have spent all day here – the formal gardens are so beautiful, and so relaxing to simply wander around.  Our son could have spent all day just in the gorgeous playground here.  Its design is incorporated into the formal arrangement of the gardens as a whole, and is enclosed by hedges.  Four distinct play areas extend from a central sandpit, which has a "moat" and is presided over by two incredible carved wooden dragons.  The play areas are simple and even elegant – one was a small forest of wooden posts, some of them with little carved elements here and there.  Another area was similar, but with wooden stumps instead of posts. There is a small café across the path if you get hungry.

Rosenborg Castle and Royal Treasure The castle is beautiful, and do explore it.  But the Royal Treasure – good lord!  The collection of jewels is large and exquisite and so sparkly it made me crazy. 

The University of Copenhagen Botanical Garden We wandered into these gardens by chance late one afternoon, and were glad we did.  It’s a beautiful and fascinating place to wander and make discoveries.  So many winding paths and little botanical worlds within the garden.

                       

The Round Tower Do you need to exhaust your young one?  The Round Tower features a winding interior ramp that goes up and up and up…  at the top there is a small outside viewing area, with views all around.  We were grateful for the tiny and unexpected bathroom about halfway up.

Louisiana Museum of Modern Art This wonderful museum is a few train stops north of the city and we almost didn’t go for that silly reason – I’m so glad we did!  The collections and exhibits were terrific, and the site itself, studded with large sculptures, is just a delight to stroll around.  There is a large grassy hill (great for rolling down) that looks out over the sea, with a wooded hillside criss-crossed with narrow footpaths.  The footpaths are part of an art installation.  

At the rear of the building is a large children’s wing, with connected rooms for different art activities.  The small lego room features a table and wall covered in grey lego flat pieces – all of the legos were yellow.  This simplified color palette really makes you focus on form – I thought it was great.  At the bottom of the wing is a large sculpture studio, with generous tables and slabs of clay ready to be worked.  From here we headed right out into the back of the property, where a path winds around a small lake (look for the miniature houses hidden in the woods) and a long hillside slide proved irresistible to my son. 

Royal Naval Museum This museum is home to hundreds of meticulously crafted scale model sailing ships.  I didn’t think of this as my cup of tea before we went, but I found them stunning.  The ships were used as models for shipbuilders, who might not be able to read or understand technical drawings.  My son was more interested in the very detailed dioramas dramatizing historic sea battles.  There’s also a terrific children’s play area in the basement with a pirate ship and “docks”.

Eating

  

While I wish we had had the chance to dine at Noma, we mostly kept it cheap and no-frills when it came to meals.  This involved eating more hot dogs than I really care to admit.  We couldn’t believe how many hot dog vendors we came across, but apparently it is a Thing.  Luckily, we also found a great little pizza place near our hotel, right next to a skate park – we dined al fresco and O got to practice his version of parkour as soon as he was finished.

Pizzaria La Fiorita: corner of Nansengade and Ahlefeldtsgade Streets