Blue Slide Playground

The most recognizable feature here is a long, concrete slide built directly into the steep hillside, with no supports other than the earth itself. It is the centerpiece of this playground, which occupies a section of Frick Park. Designers John and Philip Simonds envisioned the project in the early nineteen-sixties as a way to use the natural topography for recreation, coating the slope in concrete and plastic to create a slick, steep surface that children have navigated with cardboard for generations.