Sense of adventure: what happened to playgrounds that give children space?

“A city that has no room for the child is a diabolical thing,” wrote the Dutch architect Aldo van Eyck. No architect has cared more about how children inhabit cities than Van Eyck, who in 30 or so years after the end of the second world war built more than 700 playgrounds across Amsterdam.

Van Eyck springs to mind because of the London Festival of Architecture, which is tapping into Olympic fever this summer with the theme “The Playful City”. As part of the programme, two temporary playgrounds are opening in King’s Cross next weekend.