Social Contributions: The First “Our Happy and Safe Playground” Opened
What do you think is the biggest difference between the playgrounds in our childhood and the current playgrounds?
The answer is sand.
Looking back on our childhood memory, we had sand with which we could play making toad houses, roads, etc.
One of the happiness was splashing in a puddle after rain at the time.
* Most of the current playgrounds in South Korea have no sand for sanitation’s sake.
We asked local elementary students, before designing the playground.
”What do you want to have in your playground?”
”Wide spaces where we can play hide-and-seek.”, “I want to play with sand.”, they answered.
They seemed to want simple things rather than fancy and delicate types of equipment.
Reflecting these opinions, We’ve made the first and only “our happy and safe playground”
The playground is named “Play Isle Saisairang”: “Sa” means sand, “i” means children, and “Sai” means among something in Korean. The entire name means that children freely play on here with sand.
Instead of being furnished with steel equipment, elastic-chip-paved hills and sandbags are laid where children can easily change the space to play in their styles. It’s designed to let them learn how to deal with dangerous situations.
The playground designer Heesung Baek, the CEO of KEAB said, “I want to present them an image that reminds them of hometown wherever they will stay.” And he added, “Even if grown-ups see the sandbags or the scribbles in this playground are awkward, this is one of the best places for our children to play.”
This “Our happy and safe playground” project was promoted for children in our local community who cannot easily find a place to play. In other words, its purpose is to remodel old or unsafe playgrounds into fun and safe places to play.
With the motto “Grow with the local community and make a safer world,” CTR is planning to renovate more playgrounds in the communities near the CTR’s factories.
Taeryong Kang, the chairman of CTR Group, said “I hope this happy and safe playground keeps playing its role for the local children.” And “We’re planning steady social contributions for local communities,” he added.
The first playground is just the first step CTR has taken for the local children who are our dream and future. I hope local people keep using the playground to settle it as a fun and safe place for children to play and watch what CTR will do for local communities.
