SKATEBOARD PARK
Client: Graphic Design Company
Type: Skate Park
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Design: 1998
The unique requirement in skateboarding of a sloping, continuous curved surface makes a steel water tank the perfect shell for an indoor skateboard facility. The design exploits the curvature of the tank walls to configure an interconnected system of ramps for continuous gliding.
The tank is placed directly on the ground. Its perimeter is perforated by external bodies.
The park is also conceived as a place for social interaction. To satisfy functions of teenage gathering, a dense repetition of vending machines, lockers and seating alcoves runs along an interior 360-degree walkway. The path is located at the top of the skating ramps, and it is animated by graphics and light.
40-foot shipping containers serve as entrance and exit tunnels; 20-foot shipping containers house offices and bathrooms.
The whole inner surface of the tank is coated with white epoxy to be used as a spherical projection screen, introducing the skaters into virtual landscapes.