Skateboarding, Architecture and Urbanism

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Shenzhen Shenwan Street Park / AUBE CONCEPTION. Photo: © Tianpei Zeng

At the end of the 19th century, skateboarding emerged in the United States. Officially patented in 1936, the sport has already faced several prejudices, but like the social and urban dynamics of which it is a part, it has lasted to demonstrate that its experience goes far beyond conservative views and brought a new way of experiencing the city by trying movements of our own bodies in light of the urban or architectural design.

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Skatepark Continua / MBL architectes + bureau David Apheceix. Photo: © Maxime Verret

The sport evolved over time. In the 1980s, a new style emerged: Street Skateboarding. In it, elements of the city such as handrails, stairs, sidewalks, ramps, have become an invitation for tricks by those who choose to subvert uses and programs designated by architects and urban planners to spaces. This led to the ban on skateboarding, which resulted in demonstrations against it in several countries, which kept the practice alive in urban dynamics.

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V-Plaza Urban Development / 3deluxe architecture. Photo: © Norbert Tukaj

Currently, architects are already thinking of specific spaces to practice skateboarding - which has become an Olympic sport - and that provide new possibilities for tricks But, as Leonardo Brandão reminds us in his text "A Cidade e os Skatistas", nothing replaces the experience where he came from: the streets.

The restrictions on the practice of skateboarding on the streets have not ceased. Its continuity, however, seems to be the response of some young people to the growing number of tracks built to 'tame' them. But a track will never reproduce the urban vivacity or come close to the unusualness of the streets.

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A Skate-spot near the Krymsky overpass / Snøhetta + Strelka KB + Strelka Architects. Photo: Courtesy of Strelka KB
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La Duna Skatepark and Communal Centre / Oficina de Vinculación UNAM + Valia Wright + Eduardo Peón + Elías Group. Photo: © Onnis Luque
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Skatepark & Parkourground Mziuri / David Giorgadze Architects + Maxime Machaidze (LTFR). Photo: Cortesia de David Giorgadze

June 21st is the World Skateboard Day, therefore, we selected several projects in parks, squares or even indoor that architects designed to think of the practice of the sport. See them all in the gallery below.

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About this author
Cite: ArchDaily Team. "Skateboarding, Architecture and Urbanism" [Skate, arquitetura e urbanismo] 06 Jul 2022. ArchDaily. (Trans. Simões, Diogo) Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/984460/skateboarding-architecture-and-urbanism> ISSN 0719-8884

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