The Playground Project Melbourne transforms Incinerator Gallery into an interactive wonderland exploring playground design history.
This ambitious international travelling exhibition invites young visitors to climb, crawl and imagine their way through 150 years of playground evolution in Melbourne.
Unlike traditional gallery experiences, children can actively engage with whimsical displays while learning about the fascinating intersection of art, design, urbanism and activism that has shaped playground development from the late 19th century to today.
The Playground Project Melbourne
- When: 28 June – 12 October 2025
- Where: Incinerator Gallery, Melbourne
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The Playground Project Melbourne showcases four distinct phases of playground design evolution.
The first phase, beginning in 1880, saw social reformers redirecting children from dangerous streets onto purpose-built playgrounds.
The 1930s brought the second wave, particularly strong in Scandinavia, which championed natural settings as optimal play environments for children’s development.
The revolutionary third phase emerged from 1968 onwards, when local community groups and creative collectives began constructing their own playgrounds.
This grassroots movement was fuelled by self-empowerment ideals and the proliferation of do-it-yourself design guides.
However, the economic challenges of the 1980s ushered in a fourth phase that marked the decline of utopian playground design thinking and reduced government involvement in commissioning and maintaining urban play spaces.
This crisis in urban planning and playground design continues to challenge communities globally, including Melbourne, across diverse cultures, languages, social systems and economic realities.
The Melbourne exhibition addresses these ongoing challenges while inspiring solutions for contemporary playground development.
The exhibition features carefully curated photographs, videos, archival materials and texts showcasing key case studies from Continental Europe, United Kingdom, America, Asia, Africa and Australia.
Three interactive playground displays allow children to kinetically engage with design concepts while enjoying real-time play experiences that bring historical playground innovations to life.
An ambitious program of educational and public events over 22 weeks will foster community engagement and art exploration.
The exhibition aims to inspire children, students, city planners, artists and designers to envision innovative futures for play and playground design in parks, cities and suburbs across Melbourne and Australia.
For more information, head here.
