Playgrounds at Incinerator Gallery
Yvan Pestalozzi, Lozziwurm, 1972/2025
The first abstract Play Sculptures appeared in Sweden, Holland and Denmark in the 1940s. Led by artists and designers in open spaces, kids were invited to touch, climb and slide on unique works of art. Informed by Maria Montessori and Rudolf Steiner’s pedagogy of ‘free play’, these site-specific installations were usually made from organic matter (sand, wood, water and stone). On occasion, more durable industrial materials (metal, concrete and fibreglass) were applied and since the 1960s, plastic offers the best lightweight, affordable and pliable solutions for bright bold designs.
The Lozziwurm (1972/2016) by Swiss cabinetmaker turned artist-and-designer Yvan Pestalozzi (1937-2004) is a great example. It is a simple design made of one straight and one curved tubular element, joined by pipe clamps. Shapes can be made for indoor and outdoor display and encourage free-flowing kinetic play.
At once a play sculpture and an artwork, The Lozziwurm has been uniquely produced and displayed in over 110 schools, playgrounds, shopping centres, parks and art exhibitions, including Art Basel 1973, where it received the prestigious Swiss Art Award.
BoardGrove Architects, The Ringtales Playground, 2025
The Ringtales Playground is a new site-specific installation by Melbourne-based BoardGrove Architects. Located outdoors, it invites children to a world of imaginative, free play through sand, water and movement. The work draws inspiration from modernist architects, Walter Burley Griffin (1876-1937) and Marion Mahony Griffin (1871-1961), designers of the original Incinerator building, and Aldo van Eyck (b. 1951), a city planner of Amsterdam, who championed the integration of play and public space. The composition advocates risk-taking through play by incorporating a pre-existing metal structure based on Ulrich Wolf's 1950s design of a monkey bar. The water table honours the Maribyrnong River, mapping an aerial view of its waterways, and celebrates its Woi-wurrung name, translating to "I can hear a ringtail possum".
BoardGrove Architects is also responsible for the exhibition design of The Playground Project Melbourne.
First Nations Playable Public Art Commission, Edwina Green, 2025
Trawlwoolway multidisciplinary artist Edwina Green invites you to explore, imagine, and play on this new sculpture playground. Inspired by the history and ongoing health of land and waterways, this sculpture honours the knowledge held within Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung Country.
Echoing the shifting contours and underwater ecosystems of the nearby Maribyrnong River, the sculpture's form is a land-based invitation for audiences to consider movement, storytelling, and connection to Country. Its textured surface evokes the layered pattern of an oyster shell—a symbol of sustenance, strength, and deep time. Oysters are significant to coastal and saltwater mobs and carry the history of Country in their shells-the tides, the seasons, and generations of gatherings along the shoreline. Children are invited to explore the subtle textures of this sculpture with their hands and feet, engaging their senses and imagination through direct interaction with form and story.
This new public artwork was commissioned by MVCC for The Playground Project Melbourne in 2025 with Agency Projects. It was generously funded by the State of Victoria through Emergency Recovery Victoria's Community Recovery Hubs grant program in response to the 2022 flood event, which impacted Victorian communities.
"This commission has allowed me to honour the cultural significance of the Maribyrnong River, which has held me for most of my life, while being able to contribute something joyful, grounding and enduring to public spaces." - Edwina Green