Skate Hate

 We all remember the 1991 movie Point Break. Swayze, Nixon masks and surfing was the central meat of the story, but deeper down the idea of a group of people with adrenaline on the edge of their breath and a board underneath their feet to do something about it with has for a long time been a dream for many people.

I myself spent a fair amount of time trying to skateboard when I was a teenager and became all too familiar with the rough planes and harsh edges of a South London landscape and many a bruise and graze, scars lovingly given to me from these surfaces, became the majority of my achievements during this period. It was during the short cruises and ollie attempts that I got to know my local suburban environment comprehensively, something I neither appreciated or realised at the time. What would perhaps before have been a characterless surface, suddenly awoke beneath you as the textures ran through the board and into your body as you read and dominated the industrial braille and surfaces, what was once a forgotten element of a bigger architecture suddenly became a platform for your own expression.

Surprising it would seem then that this ideal is widely discouraged, as architects, planners and developers frequently design and detail architecture and urban landscapes to fortify them against the simple act of skating.

Take for example the new Croydon council offices built next to the old establishment at Taberner House, the form is slanted and the appearance is transparent, a classic example of taking a step away from large columns and dominance architecture of old town halls and power houses and instead taking a leap into utilising glass and playing with light to encourage an honest relationship with the public they hope to inspire. An enjoyable piece of architecture, sure, and one would be quite safe in assuming that skaters would not hope for much accomadation out of such a building, but follow the external elevation around to Fell Road and you notice a glimmer of opportunity. Alas, disappointment. For what would otherwise be quite frankly a run of boring planting beds, but a fantastic "grinding" spot for skaters, have been detailed with a large ball bearing pinned at their edges to prevent such shenanigans, which really just begs the question, why go to such lengths to prevent this common recreation?

Rather than embrace the reality that this particular element of design was likely to be adopted and enhanced by skaters for its friendly flat planes, it has been forced to become yet another glorified rubbish bin for people walking to and from East Croydon and Fairfield Halls. There are bigger problems within architectural design than just skaters, like materiality and the modern human scale, yet the skaters seem to always come up against the toughest physical barriers. Good thing then that the skater philosophy has adapted to not care the slightest for architectural rules and regulations, in fact if anything at all the skate hate has grown into a challenge to be won.

tW