Went to see The Brutalist Playground at RIBA. You can imagine what I was imagining. Lots of drawings and information and small type and long words about council estates and and architecture and play.
This kind of vibe:
(Which is a good kind of vibe. That's why I went.)
But, of course, you imagine there'll be nothing for actual kids to do. Bloody architects!
Well, I couldn't have been more wrong.
All there seems to be, in fact, is some brutalist looking soft play. The sort of structures you see on the website rendered in soft foam and being crawled all over by kids. Magnificent. Modernists - this is where to take your toddlers!
If you want to actually read anything about brutalist playgrounds, you can pick up a free newspaper but most of the good stuff is on the site. I guess that's the right way to do things - make the exhibition about the actual physical thing, put the information online - but it requires careful management of expectations, especially if you're going to be so brutally focused.
Don't go expecting to learn, go expecting to clamber.