Walter Van Beirendonck Playground at C-mine
A Surreal Design Space for Kids and Families
text Enrico Fragale Esposito
Forget everything you expect from a playground. No bright plastic clichés, no predictable structures, no “designed for kids” shortcuts. At C-mine (Genk, Belgium), Walter Van Beirendonck flips the script entirely, turning play into something far more layered: visual, physical, almost surreal.
This is a space that doesn’t simplify childhood. It amplifies it.
Set within the raw, post-industrial landscape of C-mine, the playground feels like an unexpected apparition. Shapes emerge, colors pop, characters take form — not as decoration, but as active elements of the experience. It’s not about adding fun. It’s about building a universe where fun already exists, waiting to be discovered.
Van Beirendonck’s signature language is instantly recognizable. Bold, graphic, slightly eccentric but always playful. As a member of the Antwerp Six, he has long challenged the boundaries of fashion, and here, that same mindset is translated into space. Only this time, you don’t just look at it: you move through it.
Faces appear where you don’t expect them. Structures feel alive. Nothing is purely functional, yet everything works. The playground becomes a living system of stimuli, where curiosity drives movement and imagination fills the gaps. And what’s interesting is how naturally children respond to it. There are no instructions, no obvious paths. And still everything flows. Kids invent their own routes, their own narratives, their own rules. The space unlocks PLAY.
A new chapter: Walter Van Beirendonck x Eastpak
As if the playground wasn’t enough, Walter Van Beirendonck continues to expand his universe beyond spaces and into objects that move with us.
Presented during Paris Fashion Week in January 2026, the latest collaboration with Eastpak introduces the Walter Pak’r, a bold reinterpretation of the iconic Monster Backpack.
Originally launched in 2004, today, it returns with a sharper, more contemporary attitude.
The Walter Pak’r reworks the original concept into a clean, monochromatic statement, available in orange, blue and military green.
🎾 Read about a debut collection that is winning the match point of the season here.