The built environment is made up different systems and components (roads, factories, residencies, shipping yards, restaurants, tunnels bridges, etc.) which functions as avenues and settings for the people, activities and mechanics of a city. As the activities and demographics of a city change over time, elements of the urban fabric are used differently: some are retooled and redesigned to accommodate the changes, others are destroyed forever and still others are abandoned as they are. Abandoned urban spaces can take the form of empty, derelict factories, underpasses and outdated service tunnels but can also be empty plazas, back alleys, scraps of space in-between buildings and expansive parking lots which have, for one reason or another, fallen into disuse. Before long, these spaces, ignored by the city and it’s intended users will attract new users: scavengers of space.
Street skating is rooted in the reapportion of urban spaces like these. Skateboarders use the armature of the city, which once served a bureaucratic or civic purpose, and utilize it for it’s physicality: exploring their very floors and walls (as slopes, ledges, curbs, dips, gutters and steps) and their street furniture (like handrails, benches, trashcans, tables, etc.). While skateboarding is often looked at by city officials and property owners as a public nuisance and frequently banned in public spaces, street skating as a civil act is integral in the adaptation and reuse of spaces which have become obsolete.
It sounds like a very fascinating topic. The first few sentences of your introduction sound somewhat vague and bloated, though. You may want to reorganize them and introduce your own point of interest earlier on in the introduction.
ReplyDeleteI really like your topic - I think some of the most interesting spaces in the city are those that others have forgotten about and that become part of a different city population's everyday use. I would really focus in on the dichotomy between the skating culture and how its viewed by the outside public (oftentimes as rowdy, uncontrolled, etc.) and the potential for skating to rediscover and rehabilitate a city. Is there a more positive, active relationship that can be formed there?
ReplyDeleteI think it would be interesting if your paper had a section on the technicalities of skateboarding- that literally described different skateboard jumps/moves/tricks and the kind of physical space that they are meant for (banisters/steps/streets). I also think it might be interesting to include a time when a city was planning to build in a certain area and was met with resistance from the skater community (if that's ever happened).
ReplyDeletei agree that the first sentence can be changed to make a more precise statement. i think the topic will be really interesting in understanding what exactly about a space tends to attract skaters. something that could be beneficial to look into is the idea of skate parks and how they are build solely for the purpose of skating. it might be an interesting comparison on the idea of void spaces vs a built environment.
ReplyDeleteA really fascinating topic. Make sure to connect the sexiness of skateboarding as a cultural phenomenon to changes in the built environment. You should have a real wealth of images to chose from!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely talk about attempts to contain stakeboarding through the construction of skate parks and rinks. Do they work, or is skateboarding a natural and inevitable extension of the urban environment?
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