Thomas W. Luckey was an American artist, sculptor, and architect best known for inventing abstract playgrounds called Luckey Climbers. Luckey also created furniture, merry-go-rounds, and interiors.
Luckey earned his BA at Yale and his master's from the Yale School of Architecture in the late 1960s. He began designing for children in 1985. He also experimented with sculptural staircases, toys, and carousel design, but made a career of his trademark climbers, which have delighted young visitors to children’s museums and other public spaces across the United States and in Mexico City. The designs incorporate stable platforms suggesting magic carpets, leaves, or other organic shapes that are surrounded by netting but seem to float in space while encouraging unfettered ascension.