Community-Minded Design with Todd Lehman — Episode 036

On today's episode, we're talking about playground design
and how design that keeps a community’s spirit in mind benefits
the community as a whole.


Our guest on the show is Todd Lehman, owner and "design guy" at
Cre8Play. You may recognize Cre8Play from the 2018 NRPA Annual
Conference, where they won Best in Show for their playground
exhibit.


Todd seemed to have a passion for play in his blood (his father
was a park and recreation director for many years and then sold
playgrounds) and would cut out playground equipment from catalogs
to design his own playgrounds when he was a child. It only made
sense for Todd to go into a career where he could merge his
passions for design and play in creating playground equipment
that not only promotes physical activity, but also brings
communities together.


Playgrounds and play spaces should reflect the communities around
them - and in the age of customization, it's more doable now than
ever. Check out the episode to hear about examples of communities
that are implementing play spaces that reflect the area that
surrounds them, as well as some pretty cool playgrounds that are
replicas of the city they are in.


We also take a look at how agencies can get started on a project
to implement more unique and inclusive play spaces.