Zprávy památkové péče 2019, 79(1):50-60 | DOI: 10.56112/zpp.2019.1.07

Children's playgrounds, children's play areas, and spaces for children in the first half of the 20th century in the projects of landscape architect Josef Vaněk

Stanislava Ottomanská

The landscape architect Josef Vaněk is one of the most significant personalities in his field in the Czech Republic during the first half of the 20th century. The aim of this article is to make a selection of his work that addresses the projects of playgrounds, children's play areas, and spaces for children and youth, especially designed in the interwar era of Czechoslovakia (1918-1938). This is unpublished information, not yet described in detail, which was substantiated by the article's author mainly based on the study of this functional type of greenery from the dozens of projects by Josef Vaněk. The acquired knowledge is quite unique, because from the perspective of the history of garden art, there have been as of yet very few domestic professionals, be they archivists, historians, educators, urban planners, architects, or garden architects, who have dealt with this specific topic. If some partial work on the subject appeared, then it was mostly merely information on individual structures in the regions. The author has focused on the work of Josef Vaněk with regard to the possibilities and availability of archival sources for these garden art structures. There have not been as many conclusive period and archival documents preserved from other garden architects of the era, such as Josef Kumpán, Josef Miniberger, Otokar Fierlinger, Zdeňka Košáková and many others, as there has from Josef Vaněk.

Keywords: playgrounds, spaces for children, garden architecture, Josef Vaněk, Czechoslovak Republic

Published: March 1, 2019  Show citation