Skateboarding and City Architecture

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This chapter explores the connection between skateboarders and city architecture, discussing how skateboarders view the city and constantly look for opportunities to skate. It highlights the methods cities use to prevent skateboarding on public structures and spaces, as well as the unintentional skateboarding-friendly design of modern cities by architects like Le Corbusier. The chapter also discusses the history and design of Love Park in Philadelphia, a popular skateboarding spot, and the ongoing support and resistance towards skateboarding in the city.

Watch a skate video today, and you'll notice how similarly shaped the boards are. It’s called the “popsicle” design, because the deck is narrow in the middle and rounded off at both ends, like a popsicle stick. This may seem stupid simple, but that basic, clean popsicle shape is actually the product of a lot of experimentation and iteration. In 1989, one particular board would cement skateboard design as we know it. But to understand it, we have to go back over a decade to the mid-70s, as more and more money poured into the growing sport.

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