Skate Vitra is an innovation for the purpose of engaging youth culture into the world of art and architecture. The adaptation of a structure that represents deep thought process and immersion into the fabric that is the built environment, allows for a youth culture the opportunity to conceptualise this world from their own point of view. The intent is to breed a new generation of thinkers that can reconceptualise architecture from a functionalist, yet youth-culture driven and entertainment perspective.
Skate Vitra has adapted the forms of Frank Gehry’s design and used them advantageously to create a multi-faceted space in which the world of skateboarding can be taken to new heights. The multi-levelled building offers the opportunity to generate various forms of skate park, meshed into one environment of free-flowing expression. Skate Vitra boasts a range of iconic features that are unique to the world of skateboarding.
The rooftop skate park in which surrounding heights add to the adrenaline rush already set in place by the various flat ramps, quarter-pipe and handrail that inhabit this concrete plain.
The indoor bowl in ground level placed dangerously close to the wall tempting the instinct for innovative bowl expression.
The upstairs transfer gap over the walkway has the potential to blow blood vessels as the transfer becomes scarily close to other structures in the vicinity, with nothing but empty space below it for the crash landing.
The 3 metre extension quarter-pipe in the main area is the ultimate challenge. It’s mere height and lack of transition is what eats at the stomach of most skaters, leaving them contemplatively staring down its length for hours or even walking away.
The development of this skate park took an environmentally friendly approach, as old plywood was salvaged, treated and then used in the fabrication of most of the ramps. For support beams stronger more trustworthy wooden beams were utilised for safety issues. The roof was replaced with second hand corrugated iron, allowing cooler summer as it reflects a lot of the heat from the sun. Some walls were knocked out to allow the flow of the skate park, and also for access to area that were previously not accessible from their respective locations. This angle ultimately opened up the building into a haven for skateboarders as it adapted to the characteristics of a skate park. The buildings structural integrity was inherited for the sake of the buildings purpose of hybridising the paradigms of art and skateboard culture.
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