The children at Strathcona School now have the stars at their feet. In reviving this paved play area, local landscape architects Dietmar Straub and Anna Thurmayr punched holes into the 50-year-old asphalt surface, then outlined these geometric perforations in bright yellow and red, and planted some 100 trees inside them. To add rich texture and provide ground cover for the new plantings, they arranged bricks, logs and stones inside the bases. The budget-friendly, reanimated space, complete with such objets trouvés as a rusty cauldron and silvery wooden beams, now gives a whole constellation back to this low-income neighbourhood.

Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba
Firm: Straub Thurmayr Landscape Architects and Urban Designers, Winnipeg
Team: Dietmar Straub and Anna Thurmayr