Architecture for Kids podcast: How To Design Public Play That Feels Thrilling with Mike Hewson

Send us Fan MailPerfectly safe play can be a quiet kind of harm because it teaches children that the world is predictable. I am joined by civil engineer and artist Mike Hewson to explore what happens when we design parks that feel thrilling, surprising, and a little bit dangerous, while still being carefully thought through and responsibly built.Mike shares how he moved from engineering and marine construction into large-scale public art, then discovered that a sculpture could also be a playground. That shift opens up a bigger idea: play infrastructure can fund ambitious public artwork, and the best measure of success might be whether a space becomes the go-to spot for children’s birthday parties. We talk about rural freedom, urban constraint, and why kids need chances to test judgement, climb, wobble, and recover without adults flattening every edge of experience.We also get practical about how “risky-looking” design can sit inside real-world safety standards. Mike explains the choices behind open climbing structures, the tension between the risk management matrix and his “dullness matrix”, and why cognitive challenge matters for development and for adults too. From his Rocks on Wheels project in Melbourne to gallery works you can actually touch and play with, we keep coming back to the same question: are bureaucracy and fear of litigation shrinking public life, and do we want cities shaped that way?If you care about child-friendly cities, intergenerational public space, inclusive park design, and public art that people can truly use, you will get plenty to take away. Subscribe to Architecture for Kids, share the episode with a friend, and leave a rating and review so more people can find the conversation. Support the showHosted by founder Antonio Capelao, and co-produced with the Built Environment Trust, the Thornton Education Trust, and the Welsh School of Architecture Cardiff University .These short and to-the-point podcasts hope to improve the interplay between the fields of the built environment and education as we share knowledge between the practitioner, the creative, and the primary school teacher. Exploring how to prepare children and young people for economic, environmental, and societal challenges, and for their professional lives according to today’s needs and those of a sustainable future.