A grade school in Sweden had a problem: Their “playground” was really nothing more than a vast flat slab of asphalt–better suited to prison inmates pumping iron than kids lollygagging and playing tag. They wanted a change, but had no cash. So the architectural firm Visiondivision obliged, producing a design for a so-called “Rapid Palace” by tearing up the asphalt according to a floorplan, and planting the exposed ground with a Swedish form of bamboo (a material famous for its strength, height, and rapid growth). The resulting sculpted bamboo forest produces a series of play areas, and smaller classrooms for outdoor teaching when the weather is nice. Check out the proposed transformation
The asphalt wasteland:
The proposed floorplan, torn into the existing asphalt…
…and then planted with bamboo:
As this rendering shows, the tall bamboo also gives the children the power to cast bubbles from their hands and paint immense and highly artistic murals:
[Via Designboom]