This week on Play Attention, Beth is joined by India-based landscape architect Parth Divekar, founder of Grade Landscape Architecture, whose work spans luxury residential developments, public landscapes and civic projects across the country.

Having grown up in India, studied at Cornell University and worked on landmark projects in the United States - including the Gathering Space Playground in Tulsa - Parth brings a unique perspective on how culture, childhood and urbanisation shape the way we design places for play.

Together, Beth and Parth explore what designers can learn from different cultures, why play should be viewed as a fundamental quality of landscape rather than a designated space, and how rapidly growing cities like Mumbai are forcing us to rethink childhood, community and public life.

This is a conversation about far more than playgrounds. It's about the environments that shape us, and the responsibility designers have in creating places where children, families and communities can thrive.

What else you'll hear:

  • Why Parth believes "play is the most fundamental thing of spaces."
  • Growing up in India and how childhood has changed in just one generation.
  • What studying and practising in the United States taught him about landscape architecture.
  • Why landscape architects should design entire landscapes - not just playgrounds - to encourage play.
  • The relationship between aesthetics, luxury residential development and meaningful play.
  • Why unresolved landscapes encourage imagination, exploration and critical thinking.
  • What landscape architects around the world can learn from India's rapidly changing cities.
  • Why "play is not sport" - and why one cannot replace the other.
  • The importance of designing for agency, risk and discovery.

Find out More:

GLA Studio

The Gathering Place, Tulsa

Waller Creek Park

Play Attention is a podcast from Timberplay - exploring the thinkers, designers and changemakers shaping the future of play.

Hosted by Beth Cooper, Independent Play Consultant.

Theme music by Dave Mullen Jnr 

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