Skatepark in a Box
Build your own skate element with a single box – we make it possible. The reconquest of public space, self-realization, intervention, guerrilla skating and to draw attention to current problems in the city are the basic ideas of this box. The initiative therefore comes in the wake of the future users and ideas can be implemented without detours via authorities and long processes. Through the bottom-up principle, ideas and suggestions for improvement can be effectively communicated to the people responsible.
Every skater can go into the nearest park to skate the existing obstacles. But who can say to build his own spot?
With our Skatepark in a Box everybody can be an urban activist. No matter where, no matter when, no matter how, you are the boss. Your way to school / university or work is too boring? You can build a curb or a small transition at the best suitable place at the underpass to finally do the giant Wallride! Does your local park need more momentum to jump higher and farther out of the bank or does it simply needs more flow? Then build a Wobble! Because of the self-made principle the following use is guaranteed. On top the work on each project can build a strong relationship between the participants. Besides, no one will mess up his own skate spot or suspend vandalism.
The Skatepark in a Box stands on a Euro-pallet (80x120cm) and is approximately 120cm high. In it you will find all the material and tools, including protective clothing. About two days will be needed for the construction of the element. The time for setting and hardening should be considered as well.
The range of the box is used as a substrate. It saves concrete and the element is also mobile. For example, it can be moved with a pallet truck. To get the concrete in its form, wooden boards are used as formwork. These can later contribute to build a small bank or kicker. The concrete is made of screed. Only add the right amount of water and mix it well. For that, an agitator and a mortar bucket are located in the box. The liquid concrete is poured into the formwork and compacted well with a simple wooden slat for example. With special trowels the concrete is smoothed after a certain time. When the concrete has attained sufficient strength, the formwork can be removed. Now just wait until the obstacle can be skated.
At this year’s urbanize! Festival (02.-11 October 2015) in Vienna, we presented the Skatepark in a Box for the first time and built a Curb. The festival revolves around the exploration of prospects of a cooperative urbanism. Workshops, city tours, lectures and discussions, movies and artistic interventions explore a thriving practice in many cities, characterized by co-operation, self-empowerment and a desire for social change. Since mid-September, the urbanize! Festival area hosts not only the Cooperative Playground, a mixture of open space of knowledge, social laboratory, workshop and exhibition, but also serves a variety of refugees as a shelter. With the help of the Red Cross and the participants of the “Cooperative Playground laboratories“, festival guests, audience and many volunteers, theory became reality.
After completion of the construction and hardening of the concrete we grabbed a few boards – kindly donated by the Skate-Aid foundation – and went into the shelter for Refugees right next door. The children immediately jumped on the skateboards and after a bit of first practicing, they came to the new skate spot. After a short lesson in skating they wouldn’t want to let go their skateboards. And they didn’t have to. The Skateboards remain permanently on the spot!
Thanks again for the support of Skate-Aid, whose Skateboards have been given in good hands here for real. And if someone has equipment lying around that he / she no longer needs, it is highly welcome to be given to Skate-Aid. With this, new great projects can become reality!
Even during construction some locals skated the inner yard. Everyone was so motivated that, in addition to the Curb and Rail, we also built some other elements such as a Bank and a Manualpad of wood. Next to the interested visitors of the urbanize -festival, the refugees came over to try out the skateboards and even helped building the new spot. It has appeared again that skating is a sport that neither knows religious nor political differences. Skateboarding connects and delivers, especially in the time of orientation, a form of identity and can focus on what matters. It is possible to give people that escape from war and hardship a new perspective. To provide their daily lives with meaningful time while they wait for the processing of their asylum application. The fact that in skating it is up to everyone themselves to improve his skills and to focus on his own abilities, self-confidence of the athletes can be significantly promoted. This is essential to orient themselves in a relatively unstable situation and develop from there.
The next project with the SKATEPARK IN A BOX is already ahead!
