Learning from Skateboarding
A set of stairs is an ordinary object found everywhere; you use it to get from point A to point B. It’s ubiquitous, banal, and functional. But I see it as a potential spot to skate on; the set of stairs has an elevation change, maybe a rail or a ledge, and its edge meets a sidewalk or a courtyard.
Looking at the existing world through the lens of possibility and imagination makes it extraordinary. It can become a place of social interaction, a place to rest, a place to claim for a short moment, and a place of entertainment. I think that we should look at the everyday physical world more like a skatepark, to be critical of the everyday and activate spaces in a way that becomes meaningful to the user.
Great post... in that same line it's interesting to see how the 'staircase' has been interpreted so differently and can hold so many different functions in architecture. We've all seen several examples of project that include monolithic interior stadium seats adjacent to a plain Jane set of steps to encourage interaction
ReplyDeleteGreat read, really opens your mind. I feel like skaters are mentally in their own realm of possibility. They see the everyday, repetitive as an opportunity. They also can adapt the strategic into the tactical space. I feel like parkour takes the same approach to urban environments.
ReplyDeleteThis is a fantastic way to take public space into your own hands and create what you want out of it. Often, architects and planners try to work against skaters, grafitti artists, etc. but that's not nearly as powerful as the life that these creative appropriations bring to a public space.
ReplyDeleteI first appreciated architecture through skating. weather it was a local spot or the hundreds I saw in series as the backdrop to a Transworld spread. At a young age, skaters really do develop a unique understanding of space..for better or worse.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting how many different ways people experience the same space. You see a plaza and imagine skateboarding through it, someone else could see the same plaza and imagine an intense movie scene taking place, and so on. I think the concept of viewing the built environment from so many different perspectives can lead to even better, more enjoyable designs.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate your opinion on how functional and everyday spaces can be read differently. how people find their own way of using regular spaces and each person may act in a same space differently from another one.
ReplyDeleteI think the line "Looking at the existing world through the lens of possibility and imagination makes it extraordinary." is amazing. It's a transformative way of viewing the same object. When we were kids, we always ran all over the place, climbed everything, jumped off anything, we were just crazy. We didn't see the world as formally designed occupied areas, to us they were spaces for playing. Skateboarders have managed to hang on to something that some many of us have lost. The ability to look around and not just inhabit a space, but engage with it as a child would.
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