Why Soviet Playgrounds Look Weird

0:04 Uh hello, my name is Ivan Malikov and I'm recording from Ramenska.

0:11 I thought nice idea to show big YouTube audience uh Soviet playground.

0:19 We go.

0:26 [Music] In the 20th century, the Soviet Union and the United

0:32 States developed different playground ideologies.

0:35 While both saw them as vital for children's development,

0:38 their approaches were different.

0:40 One valued standardization, utilitarian play, the other more varied and safe.

0:47 After the 1917 revolution,

0:49 the new Soviet regime viewed playgrounds as tools for political education.

0:54 They were training grounds intended to build a strong Soviet child.

0:58 This this is the most important element of playgrounds.

1:06 horizontal bar for pull-up and kind of you know um pushup.

1:12 In uh 1930 government want to create new men big idea communism

1:21 you know they make a new rule get ready for labor and defense.

1:31 The first pull-up bars appeared in schoolyards in the 30s.

1:35 They were training equipment for kids to get a minimum

1:37 number of pull-ups required to get a GTO badge.

1:41 One of these badges was a market prestige

1:43 and often an entrance requirement or booster for higher institutions.

1:48 Hundreds of millions of these badges were issued.

1:51 But -40° C winters and heavy loads

1:54 meant the training equipment needed to be strong, easy to use, and ubiquitous.

1:59 Early plastics were too brittle.

2:01 Steel tubing was cheap.

2:03 A small neighborhood crew only needed to know how to weld scrap metal

2:06 to be able to make kids have an opportunity to play and practice.

2:10 Everyone was ready for a big war with Germany.

2:14 Yeah.

2:15 Fight in the army maybe or uh you know

2:18 make work in gulag support the country this way.

2:24 People in the past were tough, you know,

2:27 like uh big nail you put in the railway.

2:31 Uh how you call it?

2:37 Oh, these things um these things scare me always.

2:43 Look at this.

2:46 Yeah, look at that.

3:04 Oh, here's another one.

3:06 Look.

3:06 Uh, big Soviet cartoon.

3:08 Very famous.

3:09 Chibarashka.

3:18 But why?

3:18 Some say the moon.

3:20 Why choose this as our goal?

3:23 And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain?

3:27 During the 60s, the space race reached its peak.

3:30 In line with its previous pursuit of making stronger children,

3:33 the Soviets began building space themed playgrounds to encourage

3:36 cosmic achievement at the height of the Cold War.

3:39 We choose to go to the moon.

3:42 We choose to go to the moon.

3:44 The US also had spacethemed playground equipment,

3:47 but the eastern block had a design coordination.

3:50 The West did not.

3:52 Guided by an iron fist, children were a key target of the propaganda drive.

3:57 Mass-produced and standardized in factories,

4:00 space playgrounds rippled across the country.

4:03 Famous cosminauts and scientists were pushed as role models and Soviet

4:07 urban planners and designers increasingly

4:09 incorporated space motifs into playground equipment.

4:12 Yuri Gagarian was a very important man,

4:15 very famous like Elvis Presley in uh in America.

4:23 [Music] So USSR build a build a lot

4:27 of this uh you know space space playground thing.

4:32 Okay.

4:32 So children grow like Gagarian and go to space.

4:40 After the war, the USSR had millions

4:42 of bombed out families and nowhere near enough homes.

4:46 So Nikita Kruev, the Soviet leader from 1953 to 1964,

4:50 slashed building costs and ordered that all new housing be made

4:53 from pre-fabricated reinforced concrete panels which

4:57 could be rolled from factory to site.

4:59 The slabs were made into blocks, which then became bigger planning units.

5:04 They had their own schools and of course playgrounds.

5:08 Soviet building codes required a minimum outdoor play space per child.

5:12 So in these huge estates, the shared courtyards became giant playfields.

5:16 Here's an example.

5:19 In Russian, you say I was uh I was in the corner

5:28 and I could not go anywhere and the guy want to tag me.

5:32 So I jump on the other side of Vlazilka on this long bar and hit my face.

5:39 I feel a metal taste in mouth.

5:43 I think it was rust from the bar.

5:46 But it is actually blood because you know the tooth come out.

5:52 So you know 40 years no maintenance and still get your tooth out.

6:04 Yeah, Malia.

6:07 [Music] Kids must be playing where very ugly.

6:27 [Music] Although they were standardized,

6:31 Soviet playgrounds could still be unique

6:33 in their use of unconventional sculptures.

6:36 True uniformity really only existed on paper.

6:40 Locals would add their own personality using dead tree stumps or leftover rebar.

6:44 Soviet playgrounds could come with their own handmade metal animal figures,

6:48 strange wood carved creatures, and folktale characters.

6:52 Notably absent in many Soviet playgrounds,

6:54 though, were complex composite structures.

6:57 These are multi-element play rigs built from several

7:00 modules bolted together into one big unit.

7:03 Slides and swings tend to stay alone in play areas.

7:07 And if a large multi-element playground equipment did exist,

7:10 it would be strange.

7:11 He could do a loop on this thing and I cannot yet.

7:15 We uh play game who can jump most far away from swing.

7:20 So he make the loop first before jump to show how cool he is.

7:26 Yeah, that he can do loop.

7:30 So he fly uh really high after the jump, land safe.

7:35 Okay.

7:36 But too close to the swing and swing goes uh does uh um swing.

7:44 Yeah.

7:44 And it goes right in his head.

7:47 Banging bang.

7:50 Yeah.

7:50 Sound like a big big broken tuning fork.

7:55 cousin have scar on his head still from this.

7:58 That's the most gaggarian he ever was.

8:09 I show you last one.

8:11 Okay, last thing on this playground.

8:14 This last one I explain.

8:20 dead [Applause] yet.

8:54 kids.

8:55 Uh, no, no, no, no.

9:04 Good drawing.

9:04 Uh, in staircase.

9:07 What is this?

9:09 One day there was a anarchy.

9:13 uh gods ruled the earth each of them of one application for a specific task.

9:21 They abused humanity and uh fight each other.

9:28 Civilization went to slumber and new gods

9:34 appear and depose previous but anarchy remained.

9:41 But uh then something new happened.

9:48 A god appeared that create a uh unified platform for everything.

9:56 His name was Udu.

9:58 He unite all the application in one hole

10:04 that would service all the needs of the business.

10:08 But he had one last trick.

10:12 He started with offering free application that can

10:18 compete with each of the of the app gods.

10:24 Such he became the king of the kingdom.

10:31 rule your kingdom where Udu give you power not only over

10:37 your business but also gives you

10:40 free application with unlimited hosting and report.

10:47 Let's do it.

11:20 [Music] [Applause] Keep recording.

11:31 Okay.

11:32 Uh, keep recording.

11:34 [Applause] [Applause] Uh, not good.

11:48 Um, where's my head?

11:54 [Applause] America.

12:07 [Music] America followed a different trajectory,

12:14 mainly shaped by consumer culture and safety.

12:17 While Soviet yards may have been made of packed dirt,

12:20 the US relied on wood fiber, poured in rubber, and well-manicured grass.

12:25 Grass cut well.

12:28 Must cut every day.

12:32 only grass.

12:35 Um I hear Americans use uh uh blower for leaves

12:46 uh and uh dry car after wash with this.

12:51 Is this true?

12:58 Use a blower to blow dog off the grass.

13:03 I get it.

13:06 You can eat from this grass, you know.

13:08 It's so clean.

13:10 Originally, American playgrounds were also made of metal and hard materials.

13:15 But by the late 20th century, the US underwent a playground safety revolution.

13:20 They were not just meant to keep kids busy and off dangerous streets.

13:24 They were meant to inculcate fair play, good manners and healthy habits.

13:29 They became familycentric and community organized recreation.

13:33 American playgrounds were destinations for family outings.

13:36 A parent or babysitter would take children to the park for an hour of play.

13:42 But the American playground diverged in a unique way.

13:45 Adult supervision was a norm rather than exception.

13:49 But it was not just out of concern for the child's safety.

13:53 Liability and litigation concerns made adult supervision even

13:56 more necessary out of concern for financial damages.

14:01 I was uh in chat roulette, you know,

14:04 a video chat with random uh people from the internet.

14:08 Connect me to American guy my age.

14:14 Tell me um about American playground.

14:19 Strange strange things.

14:24 He said cannot run on playground.

14:29 Kid fall heard um uh something and parents

14:36 uh make legal attack on school and school in big trouble and lose a lot of money

14:43 and uh maybe how $100,000 maybe even more.

14:49 So school uh make new rules.

14:51 No running on playground.

14:52 No run, no fight.

14:55 Um only shooting still.

14:57 Okay.

14:57 I think uh kid can't pick up stick because

15:04 you can use stick as a sword and hit someone.

15:10 Of course you use stick as sword.

15:14 What else stick for?

15:17 Must be someone here.

15:19 [Applause] Hello.

15:23 [Music] Hello.

15:33 In contrast to Soviet playgrounds, American playgrounds do commonly feature

15:37 multi-purpose play structures which combine slides,

15:41 bridges, and climbing into one unit.

15:44 As the playgrounds began to standardize due to the growth of suburbia,

15:48 manufacturers softened their materials and relied more

15:50 on coated metal and most important of all plastic.

15:54 Okay, now this is playground I talk about.

16:00 Impressive.

16:02 Yeah.

16:04 Not even slide is hard plastic always safe for child.

16:14 This American friend uh tell me every playground have um

16:21 uh committee of uh suburban mother with uh too much time.

16:32 They always watch.

16:35 No chance to hide.

16:37 American play areas often also included benches, picnic tables, or trash cans.

16:43 They also came with posted rules and warning signs,

16:46 indicating that it wasn't just a space designed for kids, but also adults.

16:52 Playground rules.

16:56 Adult supervision required.

16:59 No running on playground.

17:03 [Applause] What do you think kid is?

17:06 The kid must run.

17:10 Use equipment properly.

17:12 [Applause] Stand in straight line to use swing one by one.

17:17 Everyone is safe.

17:20 Oh.

17:22 Hello.

17:24 Hello.

17:27 Hello.

17:28 [Applause] Wave back is polite.

17:35 America [Applause] is free country.

17:40 People with big dreams, freedom to do everything.

17:44 Uh you see um no homeless man sleeping here under this roof.

17:53 No graffiti.

17:54 Even [Applause] if graffiti,

17:58 my friend said uh entire police uh called to investigate who did it.

18:06 Even if some kid just uh play around,

18:09 you know, I never see a playground like this.

18:17 Yeah, maybe I criticize very much.

18:20 It's a beautiful playground.

18:23 Very good.

18:23 Looks very good.

18:28 Maybe looks good because equipment used properly.

18:32 Americans are good people.

18:35 [Applause] Uh, what is this?

18:47 Police get down.

18:49 Get down on the ground.

18:50 Okay.

18:50 Okay.

18:51 Okay.

18:51 Okay.

18:51 Put the gun down.

18:52 No.

18:52 No.

18:53 No.

18:53 Oh, no.

18:53 It's just a camera.