Meeting: Smooth and Rough

My site is a meeting place of smooth and rough, this involves not only textures but also people. From smooth clean and organised boatsheds with white walls and well-groomed 'preppy' owners, to the rough bumpy textured and graffiti ridden concrete above, filled with loitering rebellious and messy skaters. The skaters don't need a skatepark, they simply need an environment, one that I have tried to design with multi-functioning architecture and objects which they can use to their advantage. 

Indigo Rendering

My first try at rendering my site worked well, apart from the skater figures which come out weirdly blotchy for some reason.

My second attempt at rendering my site worked better, I got rid of the skateboarders and photoshopped one in instead, or just kept them out of it altogether.

Photoshop

Front Elevation

Back Elevation

Plan

Site Plan

Section

Using these plans from my site on SketchUp I put each of my plan/section/elevation/perspective drawings into context by using smooth and rough textures which re-inforce my meeting. I put emphasis on the contrast between the two words; 

- smooth represented by whites, pastels and light colours with flowing water colour that also represents the sea and the persona of a 'snobby/preppy/smooth rich sailor'.

- rough represented by dark colours, bumpy textures and grunge overlay effect of graffiti. I also incorporated skaters into the scene, dressed in baggy rough clothing and dark colours.

 Front and Back Elevation

Perspective

Plan

Section

Close Up Perspective 

Close Up Perspective

CryEngine

Screenshots from my CryEngine process

Playing with the time of day settings

CryEngine Video

When filming this, I tried to portray the experience from a skaters point of view. I did this by: 

- speeding up going up or down the stairs to give effect of skating up/down the stairs

- getting as close to objects as possible to give effect of being on top/above object doing                  tricks flips on it etc

- getting on top of the roof to give effect of using roof as ramps 

- adding skating sound effects to add even more realism to 'skating experience' 

Sketch Up

These are screenshots from my final SketchUp model. 

When designing this I concentrated on having a clear contrast between the smooth boatsheds and the rough concrete/roof/objects above it. The objects such as the park bench and trash can are primarily for public pedestrian use, but the skaters have interpreted the objects in a different way, and use them to skate on and perform tricks on.

SketchUp Video:

When creating scenes for this video I wanted to put emphasis on the skaters and the rough textures and objects they are using to skate on. To show this I created scenes in SketchUp that paused on each skater as well as focussing on the objects they were performing tricks on. 

I also added the sound effects of someone skating so that the feeling for the overall skate experience could be made more realistic.

Drawn Plans

Quick sketches planning how I want my site layout to work, taking in to consideration objects/architecture that I could use as part of the site that would work as an advantage to skaters. Also thinking of the meeting between rough and smooth textures, such as concrete/brick/metal with water/paint/skin/wood. 


Plan:

Elevation:

Perspective: 

Section:

Close up:  Using objects to skate on

Skater Interaction with Public

The meeting between smooth and rough can be characterized in several different ways. Not only will I portray the physical meeting of different smooth/rough textures in my site, but also the emotional meeting between smooth/rough personalities. I have researched a lot about skater interaction with general public and property owners, and can see that there is a lot of tension between the two different personalities. 

Research:

Many people will pass through cities and street-scapes, but only skateboarders can communicate with the architecture through actions (such as leaving scratched off paint marks or metal scuffs on popular skating areas). The activity can provide great enjoyment to the skaters, however it also provides great frustration to management and general public who like to view their city tidy, clean and smooth.

Some members of the public view skateboarding as urban entertainment and providing passing surveillance, however the activity often causes a conflict for space (with pedestrians, with property owners etc.), which explains attempts to ban the activity in certain places.

Attempts to ban skaters using certain properties or skating in certain areas

The youth involved in skateboarding negotiate their claim on specific spaces in groups. The colonizing of public spaces for skateboarding does not remain free of conflict. Groups of skaters are continuously putting public spaces into and out of use. In a sense, skateboarders can be considered the ‘nomads’ of the city. Their ‘traveling in packs’ results in a map of skate locations which is constantly changing.

“…you see a post and you think, wow, I can ollie over that and then if I ride this way I can boardslided or do a noseslide over that bench. You can do it backside or frontside. There are a thousand ways to approach an object…” - Local Amsterdam skater 

They are the subject of amusement but also the source of some annoyance.  The way in which skaters use the city is essentially different from that of the rest of its inhabitants and visitors. Their ‘cool’ attitude and ingenius acrobatics catch the eye and form a new kind of urban entertainment. However the alternative use of space also leads to conflict in a number of ways. In busy commercial areas of the city, skaters clash with pedestrians and other modes of transport. The local government occasionally provides suitable facilities, but for skaters, the city itself remains the ultimate paradise.

The urban character of skating seems to express itself in the temporary colonizing of public spaces and routes.

Resources: 

http://www.perthurbanist.com/skateboarding-the-development-of-social-capital-in-youths/#sthash.BUAJuoQB.dpu

"Skateboarders exploring urban public spaces" Journal of Housing & the Built Environment

Skating and Architecture

As part of my development for my final I'm aiming to make the 'skatepark' aspect of the site more bi-functional, after all skaters don't need a skate park to skate, they just need an area with interesting architecture and angles that they can work with and do tricks on. This got me researching the connection between architecture and and skating..

Research

Skateboarders are an increasingly common feature of the urban environment - recent estimates total 40 million world-wide. We are all aware of their often extraordinary talent and manoeuvres on the city streets.

"The board becomes an extension to the body, a prosthesis, which constructs a specific mode of movement and engagement. The city is transformed into a series of ramps, of slides and runs - a city of surfaces and textures." Borden describes the skater's passage across the city as a recomposition of urban and architectural elements.

Borden, Skateboarding, Space and the City: Architecture and the Body (New York: Berg, 2001)

A skater, unlike your typical pedestrian, experiences space just as intensely and consciously as an architect himself, albeit in a different way. He/she is alive to the possibility of space, not in its totality, as an architect would be, but as a collection of tactile surfaces to be jumped on, grinded, and conquered.

The skater offers a revolutionary perspective for the architect: one that allows you to see  buildings beyond what they were intended to be, to see (and design) buildings as “building blocks for the open minded.”

“An ambler sees a bench and sits on it? Exactly what the architect and designer intended. A skateboarder sees a bench and contemplates. How many different ways can I engage the form of this bench with my wooden board, metal trucks and four rubber wheels?”

http://www.archdaily.com/246526/why-skateboarding-matters-to-architecture/

Here's an interesting video I found which shows a skater skating in his home streets, using parts of the city architecture to to grind, ollie, kickflip and just generally skate. 

Examples of skaters using the city architecture as 'equipment' to do tricks on: 

Relating research to my idea: 

Keeping in mind the idea of using the architecture and objects that are already around the site to skate on, I started brainstorming ideas on how to provide a site that is made for one purpose (boatshed) but can still be used for another (skateboarding). 

Architecture

-Roof

-Stairs

-Railing

-Bench

-Fence

Objects

-Boat fin

-Rubbish bin

-Boat shed tools

-Boat oar

Some examples of objects/textures I could incorporate into my site which could be of use to both boatshed owners and skaters.

Developing Final Idea: Meeting Between Smooth and Rough

After debriefing with Meg and Ollie on my chosen meeting idea I decided to use more than just one aspect of 'smooth and rough' within my site. The idea of smooth and rough textures meeting is one component, and the other is the more abstract idea of 'smooth' and 'rough' people clashing. The skating culture is not just about going to the local skate park provided with ramps, rails, bowls and whatnot, but its about seeing a piece of architecture and using it for something other than what it was intended for. Skating since the beginning was viewed as a rebellious act and during its invention it was seen as vandalism and damage to the city streets. Skating was popular in the more 'rough' parts of LA and the rest of the world, whereas the 'smooth' preppy youths stuck to sailing, boating and other 'high-class' activities.

This is where my clash of smooth and rough people comes in - the boat sheds will remain just that, a boat shed. They will have clean smooth surfaces, decorated with pastels and whites and the interior will be neatly organised with stacked shelving and taken care of by a proud and well groomed owner, one who is rich enough to own a boat and could possibly fall into the 'preppy' category. A smooth sailor.

From the roof of the sheds upward, will be a stark contrast - darker colours will be used as well as graffiti, the area will be cluttered and messy with rough bumpy textures and dents and marks everywhere due to skaters thrashing the site. It will be a popular spot for skaters - dressed in baggy clothing, chunky skate shoes and messy hair, who will thrive off annoying the preppy boat shed owners. 

Below I printed my first skate park plans on SketchUp, and took notes on things I would change and things I would get rid of. My main priority is not to provide the skaters with pre-existing skate equipment such as ramps, rails, bowls etc, but instead provide things that were intended for something else, but they can still use it for skating and tricks.