In Ruoholahdenpuisto Park, Helsinki, MONSTRUM created The Computer Playground. Commissioned by Helsinki City and designed in collaboration with author and illustrator Linda Liukas and the Helsinki City Design Department, it offers children a screen-free, immersive way to understand computing concepts through play.
The playground’s layout echoes the steps of computation: input, processing and output. Two bold towers serve as icons and experiential frames. Kids can climb rope nets and platforms inside them, slide down enclosed tubes, and cross between towers via a steel mesh tunnel. Quieter zones elsewhere are designed for younger children, or for those preferring more contemplative play, with thoughtfully detailed analog features encouraging hands-on, tactile exploration.
What sets this playscape apart is its integration of screen-free and screen-based educational programming: QR codes throughout link real world to digital to learning resources, helping both children and parents go deeper—learning about binary, pixels, screens, algorithms—all through bodily, tactile interaction.
Linda Liukas, known globally for her work making computer science accessible, says she wants children to “use their fingertips—not just their brain—to observe and solve problems.”
