LEGO and Nike build a new kind of playground in Shanghai

In the courtyard of a Primary School in Shanghai, LEGO and Nike created something spectacular: a modular playground that looks like it was dreamed up by kids – because it was.

The project began with LEGO China’s “Build the Change” workshop, where students were asked to imagine their ideal play space using classic bricks.

The takeaway? For children, creativity and physical activity are inseparable. Nike joined the project through its sustainability-focused Move to Zero initiative, and with architect Chengyu Fu on board, the group turned a simple 2×3 LEGO brick into a full-scale, reconfigurable playscape.

No fixed layout. No rules. Kids decide how to use it. One day it’s an obstacle course, the next a climbing wall.

It’s a far cry from standard-issue schoolyards – and that’s the point.

It’s also part of a bigger rollout. Nike has already built 42 sustainable playgrounds in China, aiming for 100, using recycled materials through its Nike Grind program.

As Nike’s Chief Impact Officer Vanessa Garcia-Brito put it, the goal is to “empower the next generation to move throughout their lives.” LEGO sees it as proof that children’s creativity can shape real environments.

For both brands, it’s a playground that lives like a campaign – and sticks like a memory.

Design Experiential OOH Sport