“I take bad ideas very seriously,” says the president of the company his now deceased father founded. “Dad used to say mistakes are the last bastion of creativity.”
Certainly the creative meets the practical when it comes to building the bright, colorful and fun climbing structures attributed to their name.
“You know when its right and you know when its wrong,” Spencer says of the many wooden, veneered vertical, horizontal and circular structures they’ve designed. “People are really good at picking out an imposter so you try and be honest.”
The signature Luckey climbing structure exploded onto the playground scene in 1985 when Tom Luckey built an indoor climbing area at the Boston Children’s Museum.
Suddenly indoor play could be raucous and fun – and beautiful.
“I want people to look at them and think they’re wonderful,” Spencer says of the structures. Although technological advances, including computer modeling, offers expansive design opportunities, certain Luckey basics are found in every structure.
Safety is an obvious concern. All structures are netted and no cascade of material is greater than 18” apart, so while the structures are perfect for crawling and exploring, running is not an option. “If you can’t stand up, you can’t fall down” is a company mantra.
Also, the structures are fun and intriguing for all ages, whether you’re simply walking past or crawling around inside. This exploratory component may not have necessarily been taught at Yale School of Architecture, where both father and son graduated from, but it’s what drove Tom, and now Spencer embraces the same philosophy.
“A big part of it is I aim to please. It sounds trite, but as an artist it’s challenging,” says Spencer. “It’s not every artist’s first impulse to aim to please and I don’t think art should just take people on vacation.”
Striking that balance has created authentic, and certainly site-specific, pieces all around the globe.
In Belfast, Ireland, a structure resembling a dragon reflects the country’s mythic history. At Mountain’s Edge Park in Las Vegas, the outdoor climber uses rich colors that complement the surrounding mountain ranges. At Century City Mall in Los Angeles, a colorful, leaf-like structure sits underneath an old rubber tree, reflecting its environment and bringing activity to a once vacant section of the parcel.
The company continues expanding and has installations in countries ranging from China and South Korea to Mexico and Europe.
“There’s a certain mentality that I try and imbibe and imbue these projects with,” says Spencer. “I really care about making things.”
Like what you see? Get it first with a subscription to ASPIRE Metro Magazine.