ABSTRACT
Playground design should be seen to be a younger sister of landscape design. Landscape design has been historically one of the fine arts, demonstrated in the creation of the Renaissance formal gardens and the English estate parks of the eighteenth century. During the twentieth century the scope of the landscape architect’s work has moved from private gardens of the wealthy to public spaces – public parks, both urban and wilderness, golf courses, zoological gardens, amusement parks, roadways, conservation areas and countryside, land reclamation, scenic values and environmental impact studies. Much of the work is at a large scale and long term. The emphasis has moved from a fine art to a practical profession where science dominates.
