Fantastical Rooftop Playground by Kenneth Cobonpue
He’s been called rattan’s first virtuoso. But children living near SM Seaside City Cebu in the Philippines likely refer to him as really cool. It’s at that five-story mega-mall by Arquitectonica that furniture designer Kenneth Cobonpue has created Sky Play, a fantastical 1⁄2-acre rooftop playground. Placed on top of swaths of green artificial turf or blue synthetic rubber are 25 climb-worthy structures that began as sketches of a make-believe underwater world. Cobonpue says that he initially took up design to be a kid forever: “Designing this is a return to my childhood imagination, where gigantic dinosaurs roamed the land, and sea clams provided shelter to sailors and mermaids.” Since the site is surrounded by underprivileged neighborhoods, the park also serves as a safe place for less-fortunate kids to literally let their imaginations run wild.
