The Lion is a wooden playground for children in a shape inspired by a Thracian gold crown. That shape can be easily seen from the balconies and windows of the buildings, which surround the space and it is 3-dimensional on the ground. The Lion invites children to explore it in different ways by climbing, hiding and jumping.

The Lion is a project of the Warsaw-based office H2. Ewa Rudnicka and Marek Happach were the office members who took care of the project, both behind the computer screen and on site.

Ewa: “We have used an existing, visible form instead of an abstract design, so that the children can easily identify themselves with the playground, by saying for example “Hey mum, we’re going to play on the Lion”, or “Yes, I live in the block next to the Lion”.

The material chosen to build the Lion-cylindrical wooden trunks- allowed children to participate in the construction. They were able to feel as part of the project. When the architects and activists are gone, the inhabitants will remain playing and taking care of the playground. They could easily identify themselves with it if some elements are actually put by them in the ground. For this reason it was crucial to include inhabitants into the process, as much as possible, so they did not feel “invaded” in their own neighbourhood but rather supported in improving the space around them.

The Lion showed already the potential to be the beginning of a revitalisation process of the whole green space between the buildings. Now the parents can add elements in it surroundings and constantly improve that space.

Ewa: “An interesting example of public involvement in the management and maintenance of public space is a the case of Warsaw. The Municipality there gives an opportunity to the inhabitants to participate in a program called “Local Initiative”. People present their project, which could range from planting flowers to installing benches and they also declare how many hours they will work on it. Based on that number, they calculate the amount of money that can be spent and the Municipality buys materials, while the inhabitants realise their idea. That is so far the best way to include local communities into the process of re-appropriation of the public space.”

H2 have been working on the Lion thanks to the support of the Polish Cultural Institute in Sofia.