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ColdPlay

Product Design: Environmental Design

Looking into playground design, the number one problem faced by children was the severe burns they get from heated up slides and the lack of play space in hot climates.

Coldplay is a dynamic play and shade structure that shifts positions depending on surrounding temperatures. The object facilitates different types of activities such as sliding, running on rotating wheels, and shade for rest.  

 Our research began with exploring micro-temperature around the city and how certain factors contribute to temperate increases. 

The first layer of contribution is the surface temperature of materials like cement and asphalt. Higher traffic zones have the highest temperature in the area as friction, energy consumption and air pollution are the highest in these regions. Also, when comparing surfaces with grass or soil to nonporous heat-absorbing surfaces, temperature differences are huge. The urban heat island effect supports the findings and areas with more shade and green plants that use evapotranspiration cooling methods generally have lower pollution and reduced temperatures when compared to areas further away. Today, cities are designed to encourage the use of indoor spaces and this limits our time outdoors. Indoor hallways are more spacious to accommodate more people and in general use of air conditioning is more widespread than ever. 

Although they cool the insides, the constant use of ACs in space can increase outdoor temp at night by 2-6 degrees by releasing heat into the air. Through this information, it is understood that there are a lot of factors that contribute to microclimates rising and this is why we decided to explore how we as designers can accommodate maximum outdoor interaction while considering current microclimate changes.

This where ColdPlay comes in, ColdPlay acts as a friendly play creature that responds to children demanding to play and negotiates

During hotter temperatures, it facilitates running through the inner rotatory wheel and the attached piece behaves like a shade to allow visitors to rest under the cooler space. When children demand to play in hotter conditions, they can negotiate with the creature through restless movements that the structure senses through motion sensors and allows the children to play only until the surface temperatures are cool enough. It monitors temperature changes regularly through sensors and as the weather drops below a certain range, it rotates to turn into a playful slide. The external structure is a build-up of hollow plastic by rotomolding to make sure it’s light and durable while the inner wheel is textured rubber to provide a grip for running. The ovular handles and rubber steps support climbing the slide from the outside and wheels under the structure guide and support the rotation function.

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