Some parents lovingly called their child “sugar” and sugar they will be when they play and explore this impressive playground that stood at the Domino Park at the Brooklyn waterfront. The Domino Park Playground, affectionately called Sweetwater, designed by Brooklyn-based artist Mark Reigelman is a homage to American Sugar Refining Company-owned sugar refinery that produces Domino brand sugar that stood at the Brooklyn waterfront for 160 years.
Being this old, this place is of historic significance – one which will be quickly forgotten by the fast changing urban environment. But fear not. The refinery may have gone, but its history is being celebrated by the Domino Park and this very tempting playground. Here’s the official description:
“As the largest sugar refinery in the world Reigelman’s playground was inspired by the history of these sugar manufacturing operations with each portion of the playground taking children through a fun-filled representation of the sugar refining process. Through their journey, young-at-heart playground visitors will climb ramps, clamber through tubes, brave conveyor belts and catapult out slides, all the while taking in the unrivaled views of the historic site, East River, Williamsburg bridge and the Manhattan skyline…
Embarking through three stages– Sugarcane Cabin, Sweetwater Silo and Sugar Cube Centrifuge, kids will be chopped and discarded from an industrial cabin, filtered into sweet water syrup, and emerge as perfectly refined raw sugar. Tying in the preserved industrial artifacts and elements from the site, Reigelman’s vibrant yellow, turquoise, green and brushed metal colors echo the original factory palette.
Reused wood from factory floors appear on the façade of the elevated cabin alongside brightly colored valve wheels cast from the original factory artifacts which are dispersed throughout the playground. The three primary structures, an elevated cabin, towering silo and an industrial container along with Stainless steel slides, climbers and catwalks are all reminiscent of the original factory’s complex architecture and infrastructure.”
Well, what can I say? It certainly sound sweet to even a grown-ass man like me! Seriously, I would love to have a house design exactly like this. So for days when I feeling lazy, I can just slight down the stainless steel pipe and be on the ground level in a jiffy. Ah, what a way to start the day. And oh, the silo could be home-based office! Sounds like a brilliant plan! Unfortunately, looking at my current financial standing and the place where I now resides, the Domino Park Playground is the closest I will get to my dream. Even then, I will need an air ticket to get me there.
Images: Mark Reigelman.
Source: designboom.
