Reused tires create playground for refugee children

This conceptual design by Dutch designer AnneMarie van Splunter repurposes landfill-bound tires to create the magnificent Rubber Tree playground for refugee children. The structure will be located at the Baan Tha Aj school in Mae Sot, Tak, Thailand near the border with Burma where nearly 1,000 students of different ethnic backgrounds attend classes.
The play area will be made entirely of reused and sustainable materials; the tires will be lashed together with rope and lengths of bamboo, making metal hardware unnecessary. The designer views the use of these discarded tires as “cradle-to-cradle,” as they are made of latex from the rubber tree and now form a sculpture resembling a rubber tree.
 
According to the designer, “This tree with long and expanding roots offers an open and inviting landscape on different levels: spaces to roam and explore, for spontaneous play. It provides shelter and shadow and places where children can sit in, on, under, or lean against and find a place where they can make a den and find privacy or can be alone with friends.” 

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