DETAILS
START:
Sunday, October 18, 2026 @ 10:00 am EDT
END:
Sunday, October 18, 2026 @ 1:00 pm EDT
VENUE
meet at Brooklyn Bridge Park's Pier 6, on the corner of Bridge Park Drive and Atlantic Ave.
ADDRESS
149 Bridge Park Dr, Brooklyn, NY, 11201
Photos, including on the event listing page, by: Daniel Perales
Please join ASLA-NY for our last tour of the year with APE Studio!
3.0 PDH (LA CES / HSW)
Event Description:
A well-designed playground does more than entertain. It shapes how children explore, take risks, collaborate, and imagine, often in ways that aren’t visible until you know what to look for.
This tour examines playspace design through the lens of play value: how specific design choices shape exploration, risk, collaboration, and imagination. Visiting three distinct NYC playgrounds, Brooklyn Bridge Park Playground, Governors Island, and Battery Playscape, attendees will see varied approaches to fostering self-determination and lasting engagement across ages and abilities.
Rather than presenting a single formula, the tour offers a practical framework for evaluating and designing spaces that move beyond standard equipment layouts toward environments that genuinely support how children play.
What You’ll Learn
- The benefit of including elements of risk and challenge on the playground to children’s physical and emotional development
- Design decisions that encourage free, self-determined play and social interaction on the playground
- The importance of the planned environment in a playspace and the effect of atmosphere on visitor behavior
About 
APE Studio is a New York City-based playscape studio that curates and designs play for communities across the Americas. Together with their partners, the APE Studio team has contributed to playscapes including Presidio Tunnel Tops in San Francisco, Tulsa’s Gathering Place, and Dorothea Dix Park in Raleigh, NC. Questions? Contact Martha Hall, Marketing Manager at APE Studio, at mhall@apeoriginal.com.
GUIDE BIOS
Max D’Aurizio
Director of Landscape, APE Studio
mdaurizio@apeoriginal.com
Max grew up playing in a first-growth oak forest, taking careful note of how the natural worldchanged around him. He quickly learned that nature is the best playground. Prior tograduating from Cornell University, he worked as a garden designer and contractor in thegreater Rochester area. In his career as a Landscape Architect, Max has prioritized thedesign of destination playgrounds, regional parks and diverse learning environments. Hefocuses on creating complex and cohesive playspaces so that all children have the sameopportunity to learn and grow through play.
Will Larson
Director of Product Planning, APE Studio
wlarson@apeoriginal.com
As APE Studio’s planner and designer, Will Larson brings over 10 years of experience toplayground projects. With a background in industrial design, Will has always beenpassionate about spaces and how people interact with the things designed to occupythem, a perspective that now shapes his approach to playground planning and design. Hiswork spans notable playground projects across the country, including Gathering Place inTulsa and Raleigh’s Dorothea Dix Park, among many others