Why Skateboarders are essential to our cities

[MaryhillVibe]

I just read this exert from a lecture given by Iain Borden a professor at University College London about the interactions between skateboarders and urban spaces from an architectural point of view. This is one of the people who were instrumental in the saving of the Undercroft from being re developed as part of the festival wing expansion at the South Bank center.

http://mudozine.com/2014/10/12/why-skateboarders-are-essential-for-our-cities/

I thought some of you might find it interesting...but I'm sure many of you will think it is boring and shit.

skip to the 00:18:00 mark

[lk130]

I'll read it, I commed the guy for saying something obvious and that he probably knows what he's talking about where skateboarders actually save public spaces essentially where everyone else overlooks and never would of gotten to in the first place

[yungthug]

It's refreshing and cool to see skateboarding taken on from a more intellectual perspective.

So much of skate culture seems dumbed down - "bro that trick was steezy as hell" etc. There is so much to appreciate and think about within the pastime. This is gonna get a fair amount of hate, I'm sure. But thinking critically about stuff isn't bad; the beauty and grace derived from the simplicity of the act does not get lost in translation.

[somejackass]

It's refreshing and cool to see skateboarding taken on from a more intellectual perspective.

So much of skate culture seems dumbed down - "bro that trick was steezy as hell" etc. There is so much to appreciate and think about within the pastime. This is gonna get a fair amount of hate, I'm sure. But thinking critically about stuff isn't bad; the beauty and grace derived from the simplicity of the act does not get lost in translation.

no hate. you're right.

[MaryhillVibe]

I also really enjoyed the fact that while he may be an "outsider" in terms of the act of skateboarding itself, his own particular area of knowledge crosses over in a really informed way. It's cool to hear about skateboarding from someone other than a skateboarder and be able to find the views presented be accurate to that experience.

[logan chase]

all hail non subjective gratitude

[nice_guy_2]

will watch this later when im high

[Phil]

all hail non subjective gratitude

[thepman]

Don't mean to be picky but I think the original exert is from The Independent, not The Guardian: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/skateboarders-are-essential-for-our-cities-693801.html

Remember reading the article when it was on Sidewalk forum a few years back but hadn't seen the video, thanks for the find!

[NikeSBRepresentative]

Is it a university or a college?

[Bob Loblaw]

It's cool to see place analysis from an urban historian/designer on a skate forum.
I studied Urban Planning/Design in college, and remember showing LOVE footage to a professor after a class where we discussed "sense of place". It made the guy happy to see adaptations that seemingly unrelated groups make in shared spaces, and the connections that are formed from their alternative uses.

[MaryhillVibe]

Don't mean to be picky but I think the original exert is from The Independent, not The Guardian: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/skateboarders-are-essential-for-our-cities-693801.html

Remember reading the article when it was on Sidewalk forum a few years back but hadn't seen the video, thanks for the find!

Fixed  

[ratherwatch]

He is a skateboarder.

[posguy]

I also really enjoyed the fact that while he may be an "outsider" in terms of the act of skateboarding itself, his own particular area of knowledge crosses over in a really informed way. It's cool to hear about skateboarding from someone other than a skateboarder and be able to find the views presented be accurate to that experience.

Definitely something I appreciated as well. It's always kinda astounded me by how much more we interact with our surroundings even subconsciously. I will notice the quality of the ground when it goes from rough to smooth and almost mentally make a note to myself that I could be skating instead of walking at that moment. Looking at a fountain and examining the run-up and testing the concrete/marble/whatever with your hand. Either that or we're all fucking nuts when we're walking around without a skateboard.

[formeitscrazylike]

I love skateboarding, but to call it "essential" to a city is just beyond hyperbole. Now, don't get me wrong, I think we genuinely have a positive overall contribution to cities, but essential?

[posguy]

I love skateboarding, but to call it "essential" to a city is just beyond hyperbole. Now, don't get me wrong, I think we genuinely have a positive overall contribution to cities, but essential?

I know that spots that are at parks like EMB and LOVE, skaters often keep the dealers and homeless out making it actually safer for pedestrians.

[nice_guy_2]

damn forgot to watch this, will watch asap

[Alan]

I think I remember reading somewhere that he was one of the people who supported the move to an alternative location that was to be built by SBC... Am I wrong?

Also, I bought his book on skating and architecture when it came out, it was pretty interesting, and the first academic work on skating, I think.*




* I heard about it because it was reviewed by someone in Slap, maybe even by Ocean. Thanks, Slap.

[jonnysheen]

I think I remember reading somewhere that he was one of the people who supported the move to an alternative location that was to be built by SBC... Am I wrong?

He was looking at a possible outcome if there wasn't any alternative.   But when i spoke to him about it he was on the side of saving Southbank.

[Nosferatu]

he rips.

[max power]

it always made me cringe in school when people would try and relate skateboarding to urbanism and architecture. can't it just be the wonderful thing it is without needing justification?

[logan chase]

it always made me cringe in school when people would try and relate skateboarding to urbanism and architecture. can't it just be the wonderful thing it is without needing justification?

yeh same goes with any developing form of art, as soon as people
try and pigeonhole the concept into a form that can be
reproduced it pretty much dies.

people crave validation

[nice_guy_2]

shit forgot to watch this again!!!w atch in a few hours i will

[cancelled]

he rips.

"it's like a sexual experience.... wish i hadnt said that part."

[_UniversalTruth_]

Expand Quote

it always made me cringe in school when people would try and relate skateboarding to urbanism and architecture. can't it just be the wonderful thing it is without needing justification?

[close]

yeh same goes with any developing form of art, as soon as people
try and pigeonhole the concept into a form that can be
reproduced it pretty much dies.

people crave validation

I kind of agree, but that's actually what the guy said himself in his lecture - that skateboarders make a statement without talking but through action. I've often thought about that paradox that people with an intellectual approach to skateoarding, such as planners/ architects or sociologists, destroy the atopy which they admire by rationalizing it. E. g. Borden said things like 'skateboarding has three aspects - the body, the architecture and the skateboard'. But this has nothing to do with the fascination of skateboarding which is best expressed visually and by experiencing it. I didn't like his clip in the end either.

So I think architects/ planners should concentrate on producing well-designed urban spaces which allow a diversity of interpretations. That's probably what serves the interests of skateboarders the best.

[logan chase]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

it always made me cringe in school when people would try and relate skateboarding to urbanism and architecture. can't it just be the wonderful thing it is without needing justification?

[close]

yeh same goes with any developing form of art, as soon as people
try and pigeonhole the concept into a form that can be
reproduced it pretty much dies.

people crave validation

[close]

I kind of agree, but that's actually what the guy said himself in his lecture - that skateboarders make a statement without talking but through action. I've often thought about that paradox that people with an intellectual approach to skateoarding, such as planners/ architects or sociologists, destroy the atopy which they admire by rationalizing it. E. g. Borden said things like 'skateboarding has three aspects - the body, the architecture and the skateboard'. But this has nothing to do with the fascination of skateboarding which is best expressed visually and by experiencing it. I didn't like his clip in the end either.

So I think architects/ planners should concentrate on producing well-designed urban spaces which allow a diversity of interpretations. That's probably what serves the interests of skateboarders the best.

The point about diversity of interpretations is good, I think the best way to put it is through layman's terms and say 'a cool place to hangout'. So yeh not just skateable terrain, but a place rich with sensory stimuli that can be interpreted differently varying the perceiver

[max power]

to me, street skating is about adapting to a spot that was not necessarily built to be skated. if designers start considering skateboarding when they design public space aren't they just making skateparks?

[_UniversalTruth_]

^ This was already discussed in another thread but I want to reply to that so I repost Superkilen and Copenhagen in general as one good example for good design:
http://www.detail-online.com/architecture/topics/three-colours-red-black-green-landscape-park-in-copenhagen-020724.html

[ratherwatch]

to me, street skating is about adapting to a spot that was not necessarily built to be skated. if designers start considering skateboarding when they design public space aren't they just making skateparks?

I suppose that circle is squared by asking the question 'what if you don't know?'. Would it affect your enjoyment?

[stupidiot]

This guy is a fucking moron. Skateboarding is a crime and skateboarders are criminals.