State Garden Shows have long been more than temporary flower exhibitions. In Neuss, the event becomes the catalyst for broader urban development: The 38-hectare site of the former horse racing track is permanently transformed into Stadtpark Neuss and is intended to strengthen the connection from the city center through the future Hammfeld district to the Rhine.

The racetrack was permanently closed in 2019. With the first-place competition design by Franz Reschke Landschaftsarchitektur in 2023, comprehensive redevelopment into a civic park finally began.

The history of the site was not erased in the process. The large open center still recalls the expanse of the racetrack, and the former course with grass and sand tracks remains legible as a park feature. Floodlight masts, parts of the existing path network, the betting office, and camera and judges' towers were also preserved or reinterpreted. Five differently programmed groves now frame the open center and accommodate more intensive uses. Around 2,200 newly planted trees complement the largely preserved tree stock.

The planning principle is therefore: less new construction than building upon what exists. The State Garden Show lays a new layer of use over a site whose former function remains recognizable.

More than 16,000 m² in the new Stadtpark Neuss are designated for play, sports, and action. A focal point is the sports grove. Here, a soccer field, basketball, and beach volleyball meet two so-called fusion facilities that combine classic calisthenics elements with climbing, hanging, balancing, and strength and coordination training. Pull-up bars, nets, and ropes are included, as are punching bags, battle ropes, jumping elements, and ground trampolines. Different difficulty levels ensure that the facilities can be used not only by trained athletes. The EPDM surfaces also enable barrier-free access to the training elements.

The sports area does not end at the sideline of the playing field. Seating, terraces, and paths accompany the sports and activity areas and connect them with the rest of the park. This principle runs through the entire facility: Generous seating steps, custom-designed park furniture, dining options, and differently configured gathering areas complement the active uses. In the sports grove, different generations can therefore train, play, meet, or watch others simultaneously. Sports are not placed in the park as a separate program here, but are connected with recreation and public life.

The fact that these facilities are tailored to their future users is also related to the planning process. Representatives of local sports associations were involved in the development and discussed the sports offerings with the planners. The same approach was taken with the existing skatepark, whose expansion was coordinated with the local scene.

The skatepark is among the sports facilities that were already present on the former racetrack site before the State Garden Show. Its concrete bowl from the 2000s was preserved and expanded with a street plaza. Manual pad, curved rail, extended ledge, lower transitions, and gentle roll-ins particularly enhance the possibilities for less experienced users. The paths within and around the facility are made of cast-in-place concrete and can be incorporated into the lines. Seating is integrated directly into the facility, and a large canopy provides protection from sun and light rain.

Immediately adjacent, a dirtpark was created with two lines of varying difficulty, each with two table jumps. Berms lead back to the starting point, and rollers and wobbles complement the courses. A compact asphalt pumptrack broadens the spectrum downward: It can be used with balance bikes, scooters, skateboards, and mountain bikes, making it suitable for children and beginners as well. Skatepark, dirtpark, and pumptrack together form an approximately 13,000 m² action area where different wheeled sports and skill levels coexist.

The sports offerings are complemented by three inclusive themed playgrounds totaling around 2,000 m². The Roman playground references the Novaesium legionary camp, the rabbit playground refers to the rabbits that took over the site after racing operations ceased, and the racetrack playground revisits the history of the site with horses, movement, and competition. Around 50 children were involved in developing the requirements in advance.

The Roman playground, developed and realized by hochkant, makes the history of the city of Neuss playfully accessible along a symbolic Roman road. It leads from the gate of a Roman camp past a small village and through the existing tree stock to the marketplace with sand and mud play areas. A grid of two by two meters forms the basis for the individually designed play equipment. Natural larch wood characterizes the facility, white-stained wood elements evoke Roman architecture, and brown nets and ropes recall leather in their coloring.

The individual areas are aimed at different age groups and abilities. The Roman camp and low rope course offer more challenging climbing, balancing, and movement possibilities, while the toddler area and sand and water play are designed to be more accessible. The different difficulty levels and sensory offerings expand the usage possibilities for children with various abilities. Small details carry the theme further: Integrated board games include the "Roman Mill," a memory game connects Roman motifs with their names, and in a specially designed variant of "Connect Four," Romans and Germanic tribes compete against each other.

Inclusion is therefore not understood here as a separate offering, but as a natural component of the design that provides children with different talents and interests diverse access to play and movement.

The existing tree stock also became part of the planning. The elements along the Roman road largely do without elaborate foundations to protect the root zones. Additional tree plantings are intended to create more shade in the future. Low-maintenance constructions and replaceable individual parts are designed for permanent use beyond the State Garden Show.

Aqaba is located at the northern end of the gulf of the same name and at a geographically remarkable point. Jordan, Israel, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia meet here in a very small space. The Jordanian port city is a holiday resort, a trading hub, and a special economic zone. At the same time, the political tensions and conflicts of the region are never very far away—during the assembly of the box, they were even felt in the form of rocket impacts.

Especially in such an environment, the importance of play can hardly be overestimated. Playing creates moments of lightheartedness and gives children and young people a piece of everyday life back. It also helps them process experiences, discover their own abilities, negotiate rules, and build trust in others. Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child therefore explicitly describes play, recreation, and leisure as a child's right. The KuKuk Box Aqaba translates this right quite tangibly into ramps, slides, and climbing elements.

The project was funded by "SOS Children's Villages International."

The SOS Children's Village Aqaba was opened in 1991. The Palestinian-Jordanian architect Jafar Tukan and his firm Jafar Tukan & Partners designed an ensemble of two-story houses, shaded courtyards, gardens, paths, and arched passages. The architecture adopts regional building forms and materials without turning them into a historicizing backdrop.

Communal facilities such as a kindergarten, sports hall, shop, and pharmacy are located at the edge of the complex and are also oriented towards the neighborhood. From the beginning, the children's village was intended to offer protection without sealing itself off from the city. For this combination of social concept, local building tradition, and contemporary architecture, the project received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2001.

Today, according to those involved in the project, the facility offers space for about 100 children in family groups and so-called Safe Houses. The two new containers continue the idea of openness.

The first container is a classic KuKuk Box for younger children. Climbing structures lead up to the roof, supplemented by a slide, crawling passages, platforms, and opportunities for balancing, hiding, and free play. In the small footprint of the former shipping container, a surprisingly multi-layered play space is created.

The second container contains a complete skate park. Mobile ramps are taken out and assembled into changing courses. Inside, skateboards, stunt scooters, and BMX bikes are stored alongside helmets, and wrist, elbow, and knee pads. After use, everything disappears safely back into the box. Order is helpful here too.

The play container is primarily used by kindergarten children, while the skate park is aimed at older children and teenagers. Its elements can be recombined again and again and adapted to different skill levels. Thus, it is not two identical containers standing side by side, but two coordinated offerings for different age groups.

The containers were largely prefabricated and transported to Jordan by ship. In Aqaba, they only had to be lifted to their intended locations and fully assembled. This sounds straightforward at first, were it not for the local climate.

With daytime temperatures of up to 45°C, the crane operation was promptly moved to the night. The mobile crane arrived around 12:30 AM and placed the two containers until about 3:00 AM. At around 30°C, it was almost pleasant, at least by the standards of this project.

The team completed the assembly the following day. By the evening, the children were able to take over the new facilities with a painting workshop and a small opening ceremony.

The skate park is not intended solely for the children of the SOS Children's Village. Children and young people from the neighborhood are also allowed to use the course and equipment. The KuKuk Box Aqaba thus becomes another interface between the protected living in the village and the surrounding city.

Skateboarding, BMX, and scooter riding are particularly suitable for such encounters. The activities function largely without a common language. Ramps are set up together, equipment is passed on, movements are observed, and tricks are learned from one another. Contact arises from sport without the need for a prior encounter program to be explained.

In this way, the containers link directly to the architecture of the children's village. They also demarcate a safe place but remain open enough to enable community beyond their own residents.

The KuKuk Box began with the wish to build a playground for crisis zones—at that time for the Gaza Strip. A solution was sought that could be largely prefabricated, transported by ship, and set up with manageable effort even under difficult conditions. From this idea, a system emerged that combines transport containers, a load-bearing basic structure, a play object, and secure storage space.

A lot has happened since then. The KuKuk Box has long been at home in more than just crisis zones. It stands at schools and kindergartens, in public squares, in parks, and at social institutions. Nevertheless, the project in Aqaba brings things full circle. The box returns to a region for whose special requirements it was originally developed, and there it combines play, movement, and encounter.

However, only the box is standardized. What children and young people make of it remains delightfully unpredictable. The importance of such open spaces, on the other hand, is quite clearly established, in Aqaba just as everywhere else in the world.