skateable furniture, a good idea

[sukeats]

Skateable Furniture is a range of benches that encourage skateboarding as a positive activity for youth to regenerate public spaces. The seven benches fit together in many different combinations, and the low back and fortified steel edges allow for many possibilities in terms of “skate-ability”. The benches draw on the visual language of London and are designed to blend into both traditional and modern spaces.

“By virtue of its status as a misuse of public space, and because it is a symptom of defensive design, skateboarding is exceptionally good at drawing attention to the quietly exclusionary nature of modern public space,” explains Hawes. “Older children and young adults are either not considered in urban planning or outright excluded from public spaces. Skateboarders add value to many unused public spaces and regulate possibly dangerous spaces with their presence.”

“The design of public spaces needs to respond to the uses of it by the public. If young people are using these spaces for positive activities like skateboarding, then the design of these spaces needs to evolve alongside these new uses, not discourage and criminalize, alienating and socially excluding the youth.”

www.rollernews.com/v3/2005/10/11/skateable-furniture/


you think The Man would buy it?

[George]

Sick, i like it when people bring forward new arguments like this one

[sukeats]

yea - its a really good idea.
but it depends on implementation - ie - how do u sell the idea to building architects and town planners.

cus its goin to b a problem convincing them to put in furniture that'd attract tons of dirty skaters.
on top of that - it doesnt solve the age old problem of "i fall down on your premise, so i'll sue you ass"

but good idea regardless.

[George]

add value to many unused public spaces and regulate possibly dangerous spaces with their presence.

I dont think they'll put them on private properties or places that are used by the public very much, more likely, they'll put them in places that are considered dirty or rough already, so that the skaters there reduce the chances of drug users or muggers hanging around the area.
Like they did in londons south bank, for years it was almost illegal to skate there and a lot of ramps that had been made there had been destroyed. but now when you go there, the council has made a lot of new concrete benchs, desinged to be skated, because when they kicked out the skateboarders, a load of drug heads moved in.

[iglue]

next up - skater only bridges where it consists of nothing but a round metal rail... nyum?

[sukeats]

g said:

add value to many unused public spaces and regulate possibly dangerous spaces with their presence.

I dont think they'll put them on private properties or places that are used by the public very much, more likely, they'll put them in places that are considered dirty or rough already, so that the skaters there reduce the chances of drug users or muggers hanging around the area.
Like they did in londons south bank, for years it was almost illegal to skate there and a lot of ramps that had been made there had been destroyed. but now when you go there, the council has made a lot of new concrete benchs, desinged to be skated, because when they kicked out the skateboarders, a load of drug heads moved in.

nice idea - ehhe - god knows we gotta lotta druggies here. but sadly - the skating and druggie circles sometimes overlap ahaha.

[George]

yeah its always a bummer when the smack heads infront of klcc know the names of the tricks your doing.