Tom Luckey


Thomas Walker Luckey was an American architect and sculptor, best known for inventing abstract playgrounds called Luckey Climbers. Luckey also created furniture, merry-go-rounds, and interiors.
WWW Official Site

Life and career

After graduating from the Yale School of Architecture in the late 1960s, Luckey began remodeling friends' houses and doing experimental projects, including one described as transforming:
In addition to interiors and furniture, he also designed merry-go-rounds; one, inspired by square dances, moves riders from one seat to another as they go around.
A mutual friend introduced Luckey to Agnes Gund, who insisted he contact the Boston Children's Museum. After he persuaded officials to let him build his first Luckey Climber, the structure turned out to be one of the museum's most popular exhibits, and has now been replaced with a new version.
In 2005, Luckey fell out of a second-story bathroom window and landed on his head. He fractured his cervical vertebra and was paralyzed from the neck down.
Luckey died on August 19, 2012, at Yale–New Haven Hospital due to complications from pneumonia. He was 72.

Luckey Climbers

Luckey Climbers are multi-story climbing structures crossed with mazes and jungle gyms. In appearance, they have been compared to "a Calder mobile fashioned from Monet's lily pads". They have been installed in locations across North America that include:

VenueLocation
Boston Children's MuseumBoston, Massachusetts
Children's [Museum of Pittsburgh]Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Young at Art MuseumDavie, Florida
Papalote museo del niño
Mexico City, Mexico
Children's Discovery MuseumNormal, Illinois
Children's Museum of Winston-SalemWinston-Salem, [North Carolina]
Westfield Fox ValleyAurora, Illinois
Lincoln Park ZooChicago, Illinois
WonderLabBloomington, Indiana
Long Island Children's MuseumGarden City, New York
Children's Museum at HolyokeHolyoke, Massachusetts
Children's Museum of MemphisMemphis, Tennessee
The CommonsColumbus, Indiana
Children's Museum of Alamance CountyGraham, North Carolina
Westfield Century CityLos Angeles, California
Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery MuseumReno, Nevada
Children's Museum of South DakotaBrookings, South Dakota
Providence Children's MuseumProvidence, Rhode Island
Delaware Children's MuseumWilmington, Delaware
Children's Museum of the UpstateGreenville, South Carolina
Children's Museum of HoustonHouston, Texas
The Magic HouseKirkwood, Missouri
Kidspace Children's MuseumPasadena, California
Discovery PlaceCharlotte, North Carolina
Christ Community ChurchSt. Charles, Illinois

''Luckey'' (documentary)

Filmmaker Laura Longsworth made a 2008 documentary, Luckey. The film appeared at a number of festivals, including SxSW and the Independent Film Festival of Boston, and garnered the Special Jury Award for Artistic Portrait at the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival and Best Documentary Feature at the Indie Memphis Film Festival. The film has also been shown on the Sundance Channel.