Media Critique
Skateboarding VS Architecture: A Study of Public Space and Materiality in Auckland City
This is a pretty interesting video about the relationship of skateboarding and architecture in Auckland City, New Zealand. It goes into the debate of the legitimacy of whether skateboarding is truly a destructive and troublesome sport. It goes into how the city council of Auckland has acknowledged the fact that skateboarding will not simply go away with banning it and skate-stopping ledges. It goes into the opinions of architects, skateboarders, and city councilmen.
The video starts off with skateboarders talking about the relationship between skateboarding and architecture around them. They compare it to a ballet, free form expression with endless possibilities. There are many clips showing skateboarders skating on various objects around their city and as you can see skateboarding has no limitations to what can be done on a board. Skateboarding is like art, and the canvas is the architecture. It is true, skateboarding can feel very rewarding because it takes architecture not built for skateboarding and turns it into a playground. Some skateboarders describe public space as areas that "invigorates the populace" and that these areas should be inclusive to all parts of the public. Skateboarders are not there to ruin a public space, they see it as using the public space just as much as someone can be there to sit and read a book.
Architects also give their opinions, while some see the skate stopping as necessary in parts that use expensive materials, others don't agree. Some see the skate stoppers as ugly and they take away from the aesthetic value of architecture, and they would rather see a few scuff marks from skateboarding rather than see pieces of metal jutting out from rails and ledges. Some architects admit that many of these spots that get metal caps put on them are put on after the design process, and if architecture were instead planned beforehand with skateboarders in mind the two groups could work together to make architecture that is safe and aesthetically pleasing for everyone to use and enjoy.
Last, they address how the city has responded to skateboarders. Aside from having metal caps installed in many spots, they have begun to build skateparks in the style of plazas to attract all the skateboarders to go there and skate. They see it as a practical way of spending tax dollars, it appeases skateboarders and they do not have to spend that money on repairing or skate-stopping architecture damaged by skateboards. However, some skateboarders respond to these new policies of building skateparks. Some are grateful but not entirely enthused by the idea of the skateparks because like the one shown in the video, the skateparks are often times not designed by skateboarders. The design is often times flawed and not very fun to skate on because they do not truly reflect the plaza style that many skateboarders love to convene at. They also see skateparks as training facilities because by its nature skateboarding is a very open sport and it entails exploring the city and performing practiced tricks down architecture not built for skateboarding. They make the suggestion of spending the money not on large skateparks but on making the city more skateable with more durable materials or even putting in public installations with skateboarders in mind so that everyone can enjoy the space.
The video is an interesting take on how skateboarding and architecture are related and provides a concrete list of opinions with video clips demonstrating how those ideas could be implemented. Public spaces should be designed to be inclusive, not inclusive for only most of the people. Skateboarding can bring positive values to public spaces, often times people like to watch skateboarders and it almost becomes like a street performance. If architecture is designed with skateboarders in mind then everyone wins, and would cost a lot less than building multi-million dollar skate plazas built to keep skateboarders out of public areas.
The video starts off with skateboarders talking about the relationship between skateboarding and architecture around them. They compare it to a ballet, free form expression with endless possibilities. There are many clips showing skateboarders skating on various objects around their city and as you can see skateboarding has no limitations to what can be done on a board. Skateboarding is like art, and the canvas is the architecture. It is true, skateboarding can feel very rewarding because it takes architecture not built for skateboarding and turns it into a playground. Some skateboarders describe public space as areas that "invigorates the populace" and that these areas should be inclusive to all parts of the public. Skateboarders are not there to ruin a public space, they see it as using the public space just as much as someone can be there to sit and read a book.
Architects also give their opinions, while some see the skate stopping as necessary in parts that use expensive materials, others don't agree. Some see the skate stoppers as ugly and they take away from the aesthetic value of architecture, and they would rather see a few scuff marks from skateboarding rather than see pieces of metal jutting out from rails and ledges. Some architects admit that many of these spots that get metal caps put on them are put on after the design process, and if architecture were instead planned beforehand with skateboarders in mind the two groups could work together to make architecture that is safe and aesthetically pleasing for everyone to use and enjoy.
Last, they address how the city has responded to skateboarders. Aside from having metal caps installed in many spots, they have begun to build skateparks in the style of plazas to attract all the skateboarders to go there and skate. They see it as a practical way of spending tax dollars, it appeases skateboarders and they do not have to spend that money on repairing or skate-stopping architecture damaged by skateboards. However, some skateboarders respond to these new policies of building skateparks. Some are grateful but not entirely enthused by the idea of the skateparks because like the one shown in the video, the skateparks are often times not designed by skateboarders. The design is often times flawed and not very fun to skate on because they do not truly reflect the plaza style that many skateboarders love to convene at. They also see skateparks as training facilities because by its nature skateboarding is a very open sport and it entails exploring the city and performing practiced tricks down architecture not built for skateboarding. They make the suggestion of spending the money not on large skateparks but on making the city more skateable with more durable materials or even putting in public installations with skateboarders in mind so that everyone can enjoy the space.
The video is an interesting take on how skateboarding and architecture are related and provides a concrete list of opinions with video clips demonstrating how those ideas could be implemented. Public spaces should be designed to be inclusive, not inclusive for only most of the people. Skateboarding can bring positive values to public spaces, often times people like to watch skateboarders and it almost becomes like a street performance. If architecture is designed with skateboarders in mind then everyone wins, and would cost a lot less than building multi-million dollar skate plazas built to keep skateboarders out of public areas.