For a new generation, skateparks are becoming our functional community spaces. In the very near future, malls should become obsolete and torn down to be replaced by gardens of shred.
In a majority of the world, daily cultural interaction occurs in markets, piazzas, town squares and dance halls. In the suburban sprawls of America, a skatepark can take the form of mixed use spaces: parks, gardens, functional sculptures or community centers.
That being realized, why don’t all skateparks offer a holistic community appeal?
In urban sprawls, access to food security, local community education and health should be central to the public spaces we design, including in skate facilities. Why departmentalize valuable public resources when the grounds for skateparks could easily be opened up for volunteer community gardens?
The canvas that is a skate park has room for sculpting in new vectors of health and interaction on a community and lifestyle level. Everyone can benefit from rad designs.
Skateparks should include the bystanders, elderly, artists and gardeners as gathering spaces to participate. Sharing a free space can provide a healthy environment for solutions to many societal communication issues. A blank slate for folks to start anew.
Skateparks are living sculptures.
