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A young architect is reusing old tires and making children's play in India. Pooja Rai is CEO of Anthill Creations, a non-profit organization that together with the entire team designs colorful playgrounds for schools in the country. "We live in a world playing, an essential part of growth, is now seen as a luxury and even considered unnecessary," said Rai. Every year, Indians dispose of about 100 million tires, and in this way Anthill Creations has already managed to transform this reality into 283 different recreational spaces using almost entirely painted tires. Creativity Located in Bengaluru, most of the recreational spaces that Rai designs feature large sculptures of tires for cars, buildings or animals, combined with more classic elements of swings, see-saws and gymnasiums in the jungle. All spaces are built with discarded tires that are collected, cleaned and inspected for anything that could pose a threat to children. Then they are painted and drilled with holes once or twice to ensure that rainwater does not accumulate inside. All work is maintained through donations to Anthill Creations. The second most populous country on Earth really wears out a lot of tires, and recycling them as playground infrastructure offers a unique opportunity to use children to “reduce, reuse, recycle”. "We often forget how vulnerable these growth years can be," said Rai. "The right to play should be considered fundamental to a child's cognitive growth, physical and emotional well-being - credit that is in fact a basic human right."
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