In the park named after Nelson Mandela, among the various equipment have been installed some educational games inspired by the astronomical principles of the sundials.
Sestri Levante and the “Sun Games”
In Sestri Levante, for this park it has been chosen the identification of a strictly sporting area, with an athletic piston and a pump track system built next to the swimming centre; separated by a pedestrian road axis (obtained from the route of the car road now diverted outside), the play area, enriched by some original achievements with didactic function.
An artificial hill is equipped with a large steel slide, while the underlying flat area has an educational path called “sun games”: the pitches obtained at the ends of a solar template include a Ptolemaic plinth for reading the azimuth of the sun, a parallel globe, two Hindu circles for the determination of cardinal points, an instrument for determining latitude, an instrument for identifying the local and civil midday, a sundial.
The complete descriptions of games and sundials, created by the architect Marco Lorenzetti with his son Giulio, can be found on the site http://www.lorenzettimeridiane.it/index.html
The other games for children are classic: climbing, rope pyramids, swings; moreover, along the tree-lined row that crosses the area there is an “adventure park”, an acrobatic forest path with platforms connected by footbridges, beams, nets and ropes.
The description of the entire project was published in Tsport 323 and in the article: The new Nelson Mandela Park in Sestri Levante (Genua).
