Giancarlo Mazzanti and his architecture firm El Equipo de Mazzanti, has developed a line of toys inspired by their playful Bosque de la Esperanza sports center on the outskirts of Bogotá, Colombia. The first edition of the “We Play You Play” toy series inspired by the firm’s architectural project, the Bosque de la Esperanza toy set embodies Mazzanti’s ethos of “using the playful as a design tool.”
The Mazzanti team has a special interest in the research of play and its use as a design tool to engage and trigger social behaviors within communities impacted by their designs. Forest of Hope / Bosque de la Esperanza is a sports center located in the municipality of Soacha near Bogotá (Colombia) designed in 2011.

The sports center has a total area of 1,744 m² of which 700 m² are covered by a structure that “evokes a group of trees as a symbol of unity, nature and hope”. The space is a meeting place where the community practices sports and participates in educational or recreational activities creating bonds of cooperation among the inhabitants.
 

The Bosque de la Esperanza / Forest of Hope is a project made of modules, able to grow and adapt to different situations. Each of the modules is a polyhedron of 12 faces, that is to say, a dodecahedron. The materials used are expanded mesh, round metal tube and translucent tiles

The Bosque de la Esperanza set therefore contains 16 modular pieces and 30 connectors, made of 100% recyclable polypropylene and magnets on all side, as well as 20 polypropylene connectors, 10 metal connectors, two cotton bags for storage, and a multilingual brochure. The Mazzanti Team uses the playful as a design tool, with complex geometries igniting a cognitive element, and creative challenge.

 "We believe that the value of architecture lies not only in it but in what it produces. We are interested in producing actions, changes, and relationships; This will allow us to develop open forms, patterns or organizations that act in the construction of social actions."

The series is set to be presented for the first time at the Spielwarenmesse 2019 toy fair in Nuremberg, Germany.

More information

Giancarlo Mazzanti (1963, Barranquilla, Colombia) is a Colombian architect and the director of El Equipo de Mazzanti. He graduated in Architecture from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá in 1987 and later completed postgraduate studies in History and Theory of Architecture and Industrial Design at the University of Florence, Italy. In 1995, he established his architecture practice in Bogotá, which today operates as El Equipo de Mazzanti.

He has taught at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Universidad de los Andes and Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano in Bogotá, and has also taught or lectured at institutions including Princeton University, Harvard Graduate School of Design, the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University’s GSAPP.

Mazzanti’s work is especially recognized for exploring architecture as an instrument of social transformation. His public projects—schools, libraries, sports facilities and civic spaces—often use adaptable structures and collective spaces to encourage interaction and community life. Among his best-known works are Parque Biblioteca España and León de Greiff Library Park in Medellín, as well as several educational projects in Bogotá and Cartagena. His work is represented in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

His awards include the XX Colombian Architecture Biennial prize for Urban Development and Landscape in 2006, the Best Work of Architecture award at the VI Ibero-American Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism in 2008, and First Prize in Architectural Design at the 2008 Pan-American Architecture Biennial.

Read more
Published on: February 2, 2019
Cite:
metalocus, ÁNGEL TORNE
"We play You play. Giancarlo Mazzanti develops Architectural Toy Series inspired by Bogota Forest of Hope" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/we-play-you-play-giancarlo-mazzanti-develops-architectural-toy-series-inspired-bogota-forest-hope> ISSN 1139-6415
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...