ABSTRACT
From the time Aldo van Eyck burst onto the scene as a rebellious ‘angry young man’ in 1946, his writings and statements influenced architectural thinking to a degree that has rarely been surpassed by other architects and critics.2 He coined many important phrases, catchwords and slogans that have passed into standard architectural discourse. Among his epoch-making and lasting contributions was the distinction between ‘space’ and ‘place.’3 Another was the importation into architecture of the philosophical term of ‘in between’ that he borrowed from Martin Buber.4 Simply put, place was the ‘realm of the in between.’ When he began to theorize about the space/place distinction in relation to architecture and urban design, it was perceived as extremely threatening. There have, of course, been examples of attempts at placemaking-mostly from the 1960s, with populists like Jane Jacobs, with so-called critical Regionalists, and Dirty Realists-but Aldo van Eyck’s Amsterdam playgrounds are among the most successful. The reason is understandable to some extent. The architectural profession was not capable of perceiving them because they were so immaterial, built out of thin air, as it were. This oversight by the profession is surprising. The playgrounds are not only Aldo van Eyck’s most important works, but they were also one of the most original contributions to architecture, urbanism and art of the post-war period, and one whose potential has yet to be tapped.
