Wildernis invites
Social activation of a circular adventure playground island
Wildernis Invites is a collaborative initiative led by Belgian and Berlin-based members of Constructlab, in partnership with the local association Wildebras.
Together with children, neighbors, and an engaged network of creatives, we aim to establish a sustainable and long-term use of Wildernis – island in the heart of Kortrijk, Belgium, where Wildebras currently operates an adventure playground for kids. Through a multidisciplinary approach, the project fosters wild play, hands-on learning, and an open process of co-creation, bringing together children, teenagers, and adults in an ever-evolving space of exploration and community building.
The aim of this project is to create a new space in the island of Wildernis that functions as a place of cohabitation where we support each other cooperatively, focusing on giving space and access to everybody who's interested and especially on children acting autonomously on site.
The building is designed in a fully circular way and will be built in a participatory way together with the local Wildebras community.
Social Activation of the island
Juul and I focused on the social activation of the island—making the building process visible, welcoming, and connected to the neighborhood.
Throughout the construction phase, we opened up the island and invited people to witness its transformation. To create an anchor point for the community, we built a display structure that quickly became a space of interaction and curiosity. The Display evolved a lot over the past weeks. What started as a blank wooden structure has grown into a colourful little landmark.
The Display played and still plays a crucial role in bridging between the Wildernis world and the outside world.
The Display performs the qualities of a welcoming space– giving space to sit, to play; it is readable – containing information about the project and events; it is malleable – open to be transformed further on.
From March to May, our team focused on building a new space for the local association. At the same time, we invited members of the Constructlab network to join us in activating the space – bringing fresh ideas centered around play, creativity, and togetherness.
For more information read the official blog of Constructlab
Team
This is a project of Constructlab, whereby the core team was Lucas Devolder, Jan Stricker, Juul Prinsen, Elpída Gkógka, Franka and the Wildebras Team. And then many help from the hole Constructlab network
Location
Kortriijk, België
Date
2025