an exploration of a skateboarder's relationship with the architecture of newcastle upon tyne

An exploration of a skateboarder’s relationship

with the architecture of Newcastle upon Tyne

Adam Todhunter

101048532

Newcastle University

ARC3060: Dissertation Studies in Architecture

2014 - 2015

CONTENTS

1) INTRODUCTION 1

2) A BRIEF HISTORY OF SKATEBOARDING 5

3) MAPPING THE SKATEBOARDERS’ CITY 13

4) REDFINING SPACE 32

5) CONCLUSION 46

6) APPENDIX 1 – SKATEBOARDERS OF NEWCASTLE SURVEY

49

7) BIBLIOGRAPHY 59

1

INTRODUCTION

Since the development of the first conventional skateboard in the mid-

1970s1 there has always been a conflict between people riding

skateboards and the public. Whether being regarded as an art form or

an act of vandalism, skateboarding is a controversial use of public

space of negligible benefit to national productivity. However,

skateboarders have an inquisitive nature, constantly seeking the

undiscovered, establishing deep connections to the spaces that make

up the city.

Skateboarding boasts a thriving sub-culture which is rarely

experienced from an outsider’s perspective, and plays a crucial role in

how the city is interpreted. This is evident in Newcastle where groups

of skateboarders, mainly males averaging 18 to 24 years old,2 interact

with the urban landscape, weaving personal routes through the city,

defining spaces, and leaving behind their unique marks on surfaces.

The topic of skateboarding and its relationship to architecture is not

one that has been widely written about, especially on a local scale. It

is a subject that is often misinterpreted by people outside of the

culture, who believe it is a childish activity and nothing more.

However, behind the playful front it has a huge international

community from which both professional skateboarders and hundreds

of different companies thrive.

1 Iain Borden, Skateboarding, Space and the City: Architecture and the Body (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2001), p. 19. 2 YouGov Profiles, People who do skateboarding (2014) <https://yougov.co.uk/profiler#/Skateboarding/demographics> [accessed 17 December 2014].

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The most thorough piece of existing research into the history of

skateboarding, and its context in the modern city is Skateboarding,

Space and the City by Iain Borden. In the book he gives an extensive

overview of the global rise of skateboarding and goes on to explore

the critique of architecture from a skater’s perspective. He discusses

how the sub-culture of skateboarding is interrelated with the activity,

and how through this activity people form intimate relationships with

the micro-spaces they occupy. ‘It addresses the physical architecture

of the modern city yet responds not with another object but with a

dynamic presence’.3 Borden’s research focuses on the global

influences of skateboarding and touches on local scale examples for

reference. In my exploration I will take the ideas of Borden and show

how the skateboarders of Newcastle define their own spaces. By

disregarding the intended use of spaces, skateboarders deconstruct

the city into a series of moments.

In 2010, Playing out: the importance of the city as an informal

skateboard and parkour playground,4 was published at Northumbria

University by Adam Jenson which looked into the culture of

skateboarding and ‘street sports’5 in the city of Newcastle. Jenson

explored the rich culture surrounding these street sports, focusing

mainly on people engaged in the activities of skateboarding and free

running. His research was conducted mainly through interviewing local

people in order to gain a first-hand account of the present and

historical culture.

3 Borden, p. 1. 4 Adam Jenson, Michael Jeffries, Sebastian Messer, Jon Swords, 'Playing Out: The Importance of the City as a Playground for Skateboard and Parkour', Bank Street Occasional Papers, (2013) 5 Jenson, p. 2.

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What this piece didn’t cover, and which I will explore in my writing, is

the skateboarder’s process of defining locations and the breaking

down of spaces. I will explore what criteria is important in attracting

skateboarders to specific places and not to others, and how their

outlook on the landscape of the city differs to that of an architect or

member of the public. By exploring the intimate relationship between

the skateboarders and the spaces they occupy in Newcastle I will show

how their interactions with the architecture of the city compares to

that of the architect or public.

In this dissertation I am going to explore how through the act of

skateboarding one can appreciate pure form, and show how this is

evident in the city of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. ‘Skaters are the

sensualists, the kinaesthetic lovers of space and form.’6 Skateboarders

are appreciators of the true form of three dimensional structures. The

potential of the forms of the city which are masked by decorative

facades are actualised through experience, where factors such as

materiality, public movement, light limitations, and space

enforcement play a much more valuable role than intended function,

or aesthetics. In this dissertation I will focus on a few particular spaces

in and around Newcastle city centre which are regularly used by

skateboarders. Through these examples I will explore the themes of

rhythm in motion, reading spaces and the importance of material

details. ‘Details when they are successful, are not mere decoration.

6 Brandon Joyce, Skateboarding, Action, and Architecture (2011) <http://www.lifeactionrevival.org/kinetics/?p=377> [accessed 13 December 2014].

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They do not distract or entertain. They lead to an understanding of the

whole of which they are an inherent part.’7

Through exploring the potential to map routes through the city at the

speed of the skateboarder I will illustrate the re-imagined hierarchy of

the city’s architecture. By showing how the skateboarder’s

interpretation of architecture at street level compares to that of the

pedestrian and the architect I will show how they truly reimagine the

city. Unconcerned with the capitalist function of the city, the

skateboarder reduces it to a network of space, an urban playground

with infinite opportunities for experiences.

Before analysing the relationship between skateboarding and

architecture in Newcastle, it is first necessary to understand what

skateboarding is and how it has been established in the past century.

The act of skateboarding is not only about the physical activity of riding

through the streets and performing tricks, it is about a process of

learning to read the city and interpret the spaces it provides. It is about

being immersed in a cultural group with a disregard to the capitalist

ideals of the city, forming a social identity outside of the normal, and

being part of a larger group. In the first section I will introduce the brief

history of skateboarding to prepare the reader. By better

understanding the physical act of riding a skateboard one will better

understand how it can be used to read the architecture of the city.

7 Peter Zumthor, Thinking Architecture, trans. by Catherine Schelbert, 3rd Expanded edn (Basel, Switzerland: Birkhäuser GmbH, 2010), p. 15.

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A brief history of skateboarding

A skateboard is comprised of three main components; a deck made of

layered plywood, four urethane wheels, and metal axels called trucks.

The first skateboard was developed in California over the 1930s to

1950s, originating from, as Ian Borden described, makeshift

‘idiosyncratic inventions’8 such as three wheeled scooters. The first

commercial board came in 1956 as the ‘Sidewalk Swinger’. It was a 5

ply deck with spring loaded trucks9 and was followed by many

variations of four wheeled boards that were used to ride down hills.

The 1960s saw a craze start to develop as early models were mass

produced and spread across the USA and to the surf towns of southern

England and Wales. As the skill levels of riders improved so did the

quality and functionality of the board design thus creating a drive for

developing new tricks and building more challenging terrain. By the

1970s10 the activity was much more popular and a standard design of

8 Borden, p. 13. 9 'Trash', in: Iain Borden, Skateboarding, Space and the City: Architecture and the Body (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2001), p. 14. 10 Borden, p. 19.

Figure 1, Source: Adam Todhunter

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a wooden deck, aluminium trucks and urethane wheels had been

reached.

In my writing I am more concerned more with how this development

allowed the mind-set of people riding them to change than the

development of skateboard itself. People began to think in different

ways about riding a skateboard and started questioning the

possibilities of their surroundings. Former professional skateboarder

Jesse Neuhaus said, ‘The corporate types see their structures as

powerful and strong. I see them as something I can enjoy, something I

can manipulate to my advantage.’11

The exploration of the city and natural landscape came before the

mass production of skate facilities. In the 1960 -70s skateboarding was

mainly done by surfers who emulated the style of surfing on land,

riding banked surfaces and transitioned back yard swimming pools in

the same way they would ride waves.12 ‘Cities thus suddenly, it

seemed, obtained ocean-like forms’.13 Skateboarders continued to

discover uses for the non-spaces around them including riding

concrete drainage ditches such as the ‘Toilet Bowl’ in the Hollywood

Hills, a drainage reservoir which formed a shallow concrete bowl.14

However it was the back yard swimming pools that became ‘socio-

spatial boundaries’15 where the presence of a group of people defined

the space as much as the physical structure. Henri Lefebvre recognised

11 Leah Garchik, The Urban Landscape (1994) <http://www.dansworld.com/urban.html> [accessed 24 December 2014]. 12 Borden, p. 29. 13 Borden, p. 33. 14 Skip Smith, in: Iain Borden, Skateboarding, Space and the City: Architecture and the Body (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2001), p. 52. 15 Borden, p. 52.

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this definition of space, saying ‘People use space, and particularly

boundary spaces of passage and encounter, to create their own social

identity, and often do so through spaces of ritual and initiation.’16

By 1975 there were approximately two million skateboarders in

southern California alone.17 With the rise of this global phenomenon

came the creation of expansive purpose built facilities called

skateparks, and with the growing popularity of skateboarding,

skateparks were in high demand. They provided vast playgrounds and

training facilities for beginners and professionals alike.

However, as skateboarders’ talents started to outgrow the facilities,

they were no longer content with the purpose built terrain and their

eyes turned back towards the city. ‘Whatever the challenge it offered,

unlike the urban streets of the city itself, the skate park was always a

consciously provided space, a mental projection and representation of

skateboarding terrain’.18 When regulations were put in place and more

heavily enforced in skateparks, the non-conformist ideology of

skateboarders rejected the institution and this saw a return to the

streets.

Skateboarding was ‘recharged in response to the changing

architectural conditions’.19 The focus returned to the urban landscape,

moving from pools to areas in city centres where skills developed at

skateparks were applied to features of the city. The city provided a

whole range of new elements to be discovered by skateboarders;

16 Henri Lefebvre, Production of Space, trans. by Donald Nicholson-Smith (Oxford, UK; Cambridge, Mass, USA: Wiley-Blackwell, 1991), p. 193. 17 La Vada Weir, In: Iain Borden, Skateboarding, Space and the City: Architecture and the Body (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2001), p. 57. 18 Borden, p. 131. 19 Borden, p. 176.

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benches, stairs, handrails, curbs, banks, walls, and ledges. From

jumping down them and over them to grinding rails and edges, the

possibilities opened up by this new way of skateboarding and

interpretation of the city was endless.

The interaction was not just about the newly discovered facilities but

how the skateboarder engaged with and contributed to the social

workings of the city. The city served as a facilitator for social

interactions between groups of skateboarders. Local skateboarder

Ben Armson said, ‘There's a lot of diverse people in the Newcastle

scene but it’s pretty tight, most people know each other and everyone

skates together.’20

The skateboarders’ newly fostered home in the city was not one that

was accepted by all. In the act of skateboarding, particularly when

the metal trucks connect with a material, marks are left, varying in

intensity depending on hardness of material and frequency of use.

These marks are seen by some as vandalism, and provide a motive to

remove skateboarders from the city. ‘Architects have been complicit

with city officials in discouraging skateboarding, from placing

uprights on benches or sticking unsightly “skate-stoppers” on level

surfaces, and demanding their work be experienced as it was

intended.’21

One of the most infamous debates on skateboarders’ controversial

presence in public space is at LOVE Park in Philadelphia, USA, designed

20 Ben Armson, Interviewed by the author, 05/01/2015, See: Appendix 1, p. 6. 21 Vanessa Quirk, Why Skateboarding Matters to Architecture (2012) <http://www.archdaily.com/?p=246526> [accessed 15 December 2014].

http://vimeo.com/31136828

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by architect Edmund Bacon in the 1960s.22 The plaza is a public space

which, since its discovery by the skateboarders of Philadelphia in the

1980s23 has been a cultural hub for local skateboarding as well being

internationally recognised by the skateboarding community. As a

retaliation to skateboarders causing damage to the park,

skateboarding was banned, and fines issued if skateboarders were

caught using the park’s facilities. In an attempt to keep skateboarding

in the park, in 2004 DC Shoe Company offered the local government

one million pounds to account for any damage caused by

skateboarding in the plaza. The reply from Mayor Phil Goldsmith was,

‘There's never going to be any skateboarding in LOVE Park, period.’24

These objections were disregarded by many skateboarders who

continued to use the space despite being aware of legal repercussions.

In a news interview professional skateboarder Josh Kalis stated,

‘You're going to have problems - the kids are going to continue to do

it.’25

22 UShistory.org, Free Love Park, Philadelphia, PA (2003) <http://www.ushistory.org/lovepark/index.htm> [accessed 13 December 2014]. 23 Ibid. 24 Carla Anderson, City to boarders and shoe $$: Keep walking (2004) <http://www.ushistory.org/lovepark/news/dn060204.htm> [accessed 10 December 2014]. 25 Jacqueline Soteropoulos, Skateboarders Say New Rules Will Not Deter Them Without Alternatives, They Told A Council Panel, Enthusiasts Will Continue To Use, And Perhaps Abuse, Public Spaces. (2000) <http://articles.philly.com/2000-06-14/news/25602892_1_skateboarding-enthusiasts-skateboard-area-love-park> [accessed 10 December 2014].

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SKATEBOARDING IN THE UK

The late 70s and early 80s saw the skatepark building age, which

helped spread the activity nationwide. The first purpose built concrete

facility in the UK was Skate City in London in 1977, followed by the

construction of more complex parks in the following years.26 Poor

build quality and a fall in popularity meant that most historic parks in

the UK are now demolished or in a state of disrepair.27

The next boom in 1989 saw a resurgence of skateboarding in major

cities across Europe including London, where the collection of banks in

the undercroft of the South Bank Centre played a part in creating a

facility with a sense of community away from the regulated

skateparks.28 Since the 1970s, it has been an iconic cultural hub for

skateboarders and graffiti artists who have claimed ownership of the

space. Mike John said, ‘The heart of London skating is the South Bank.

South Bank has always been much more than a collection of shitty little

banks. It is the heart and mother of English skating.’29

The Skateboarding movement spread outside of London to smaller

towns including Oxford, Newbury, Wakefield, Northampton, Swindon

and Aberdeen. 30 Most cities in the UK had public spaces which acted

26 Borden, p. 69. 27 English Heritage, WHY HAS ENGLISH HERITAGE LISTED A SKATEPARK? (2014) <http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/caring/listing/showcase/heritage-highlights/skatepark> [accessed 26 December 2014]. 28 Tim Leighton-Boyce, UK Skateboarding in the Eighties (1994) <http://www.dansworld.com/brit_sk8.html> [accessed 10 December 2014]. 29 Mike John, in: Iain Borden, Skateboarding, Space and the City: Architecture and the Body (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2001), p. 188. 30 Borden, p. 206.

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as central hubs for skateboarders; Bristo Square in Edinburgh, Urbis in

Manchester, and Lloyds Amphitheatre in Bristol,31 all playing

important roles in promoting an active sub-culture within the city.

In 2014, Norwich council issued a proposal to ban skateboarding in

Norwich city centre saying, ‘It is not safe for fellow citizens walking

around, not fair on the elderly’.32 This debate about skateboarding

legality was triggered by a small percentage of users who showed

disrespect by ‘damaging’ a war memorial, which resulted in the

proposal of an all-out ban in the city centre.

In a reaction to proposals of skateboarding bans such as this one, the

wider skateboarding community has joined together and petitioned to

help preserve the free use of public spaces. In the campaign to

preserve the aforementioned South Bank undercroft, skateboarders

petitioned persistently to protest the redevelopment of the area into

retail units and succeeded in having the area listed as an asset of

community value.33 However the attitude towards skateboarders

varies in each city and as such, is addressed on a local scale.

In the next section I am going to present an interpretation of the

architecture of Newcastle from the perspective of the skateboarders

that inhabit the city. Through mapping a selection of places and routes

31 Rachel Obordo and Guardian readers, Skateboarding areas: readers' stories (2013) <http://gu.com/p/3hq8f> [accessed 26 December 2014]. 32 Sam Russell, Norwich city centre skateboard ban moves a step closer (2014) <http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/news/norwich_city_centre_skateboard_ban_moves_a_step_closer_1_3657815?action=login> [accessed 10 December 2014]. 33 Long Live Southbank, Long Live Southbank (2014) <http://www.llsb.com/> [accessed 10 December 2014].

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occupied by skateboarders in Newcastle, I will illustrate how the city’s

architecture is reimagined.

13

MAPPING THE SKATEBOARDERS’ CITY

In this section I will focus on visualising the skateboarder’s

interpretation of the city and spaces that create it. Unlike the

conventional view of Newcastle, the local skateboarders do not see

the high street as a focal point for interaction with the city. The

monumental buildings that stand prominent catch a passing glance

while the marble benches at street level provide a much more

interpretable canvas. Paths through the city are shaped by favoured

locations, the majority of which the average member of the public

passes through, unaware of its significance. Ground texture, cracks

and holes, density of people, natural topography, and lighting, are all

factors which contribute to the appeal of a space. On the subject of

interpreting the city, Henri Lefebvre wrote, ‘Architecturally the city is

reduced to an instrument, a “juxtaposition of spaces, of functions, of

elements on the ground” … the city appears simply as the “likeness of

a sum or combination of elements”’.34

PURPOSE BUILT FACILITIES

In order to better understand why the skateboarder is attracted to the

city it is beneficial to look at the purpose built environments created

to facilitate extreme sports. By comparing the experience of a purpose

built facility to that of undesignated space, it is possible to understand

why skateboarders are attracted the non-purpose built elements in

the city.

34 Henri Lefebvre, Writings on the Cities (Oxford: Blackwell, 1996), p. 127.

14

For some skateboarders the skatepark can be a comfortable

environment, especially for those new to skateboarding and those

who focus more on riding ramps, a terrain that cannot be found in the

city. In rock climbing for example, one begins by learning on a purpose

built training wall, which makes it easy to learn technique in a safe

environment. As more skills are learned, one seeks more challenging

terrain, eventually climbing natural rock faces. He is now in control of

how he experiences space. In the same way as the rock climber

progresses from a safe environment to a natural one as his

competencies increase, so too does the skateboarder progress from

the skatepark to the city.

For those who prefer ‘street skating’ the skatepark will never replace

what the city provides. The skatepark leaves little opportunity for

individual interpretation as they are designed with a preconceived

idea of how each detail is to be used nor is there the sense of the

wonder or discovery that is offered by the city. As Borden mentions,

‘even the more challenging skateparks, ultimately were still a

consciously provided space.’35 The skatepark is a representation of the

institution, which skateboarding ideology dismisses on account of its

capitalist principals.

Exhibition Skatepark in Newcastle city centre is a purpose built

facility for skateboarding and other extreme sports. A location

favoured by some and loathed by others, this park represents a

different ideology to that of the street skateboarder. Jenson

touched on the reasoning behind the construction of a skatepark in

Newcastle saying, ‘The building of a skate park on the periphery of

the city centre was as much a device to get skaters out of the city

35 Borden, p. 131.

15

centre as an asset to skaters.’36 This attitude towards isolating the

skateboarders from the city is another reason for their dismissal of

the skatepark and continued occupation of the city as an anti-

institutional retaliation.

A successful example of a purpose built facility can be found south of

the river in Gateshead. Originally the space beneath a road bridge was

used by skateboarders who would ride the banks and curbs.

Gateshead council recognised that the constant presence of

skateboarders created a safer space for passers-by and saw an

opportunity to develop the area by building skateboard facilitates on

the site. This unusual example of hybrid found space and provided

space, now referred to as Five Bridges, is regarded neither as a

36 Jenson,p. 2.

Figure 2, Exhibition Skatepark, Source: Adam Todhunter

16

skatepark nor a true ‘street spot’ but is still frequented regularly by the

skateboarders of Tyneside and appreciated for its street roots.

In terms of the individual objects in the skatepark, the obstacles are

seen as devices, each with a specific possibility for performing tricks.

To passers-by, Five Bridges or Exhibition skatepark are no more than

spaces populated by extruding objects of no desirable use. But the

space belongs to the skateboarders; no one outside of the skill can

leave their mark on it or appreciate the space at the same intimate

level.

I will now explore how skateboarders occupy the non-purpose built

architecture of the Newcastle, and how through defining architecture

according to its physical potential the skateboarders actualise the

possibilities of space.

Figure 3, Five Bridges, Source: Adam Todhunter

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GREY’S MONUMENT

One of the most popularly frequented spaces in Newcastle by

skateboarders is the area surrounding Grey’s Monument. The area is

a central hub of Newcastle, an area populated by shoppers and

commuters. By reading the skateboarders’ occupation of this space we

are able to see how they experience the architecture through an

Figure 4, Sketches of Grey’s Monument showing areas used by skateboarders, Source: Adam Todhunter

18

alternative rhythm to that of those in, as French scholar Michel de

Certeau said, ‘the act of passing by’.37

The two-stepped plinth of the statue is often used by the public for

seating on a sunny day. For the skateboarder however, even

something as simple as two stepped plinth becomes a diverse

playground which is used for performing tricks on and off. The

smoothly paved streets provide a perfect surface to roll on with large

37Michel de Certeau, The Practice of Everyday Life, ed. by Luce Giard, trans. by Steven Rendall (London, England: University of California press, 1984), p. 97.

Figure 5, Skateboarders’ map of Grey’s Monument, Source: Adam Todhunter

19

slabs providing a wider distribution of cracks and therefore a smoother

ride as highlighted in Figure 4. Danish architect, Steen Eiler Rasmussen

observed, ‘It is difficult to explain why minute differences in textural

character, barely enough to be measured by scientific instruments,

affect us so strongly’.38

A repeatedly used part of the site is a sloped area with marble benches

as seen in Figure 4, image 4, which has been drawn to illustrate the

movement of skateboarders. The streets are furnished with a series of

marble benches which are perfectly distributed to perform tricks on,

one after another. The sloped site changes the activity of

skateboarding from pushing around a flat space to being pulled down

a hill by gravity, thus forcing the skateboarder to experience the space

rhythmically.

Unlike level areas which are experienced according to the individual,

this space forces the skateboarder in a linear direction, limiting the

experience, similar to the way a skier uses gravity to navigate their way

down a mountain. The skateboarder rides down the hill performing

tricks on the benches one after another and only stops when they fall

off or reach the road which runs perpendicular to the space.

Rhythmically, the skateboarder dismounts, walks back to the top and

then repeats the movement.

Though there are multiple benches placed around the site as seen

illustrated in Figure 5, the focus of the skateboarder lies mainly on two

sequential benches. One reason for this could be because of the marks

on the edges left by skateboarders who have come before. These same

marks which by some are interpreted as vandalism are used by

38 Steen Eiler Rasmussen, Experiencing Architecture, 2nd edn (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1962), p. 163.

20

skateboarders for reading the space. They act as markers left by

previous skateboarders which can be read to determine the best

places to perform tricks. Rasmussen notes, ‘Usually it is easier to

perceive a thing when we know something about it beforehand.’39

39 Rasmussen, p. 36.

21

THE JOURNEY BETWEEN THE CIVIC CENTRE AND THE

LAING ART GALLERY

By looking at the route from the Civic Centre to the Laing Art Gallery,

a different way in which architecture is experienced by skateboarders

can be illustrated, one that is more focused on the movement

between a collection of spaces in the city as opposed to prolonged

occupation of a single space.

The mapped route illustrated in Figure 6 shows both a literal map

(right) and a map illustrating where the focus of the skateboarder lies

whilst traveling along this route (left). This route demonstrates the

skateboarder’s focus while walking this path through the city. As

shown in Figure 6 the skateboarder travels between a series of

moments, varying in potential and interest.

These individual spaces in the city are different to the Grey’s

Monument where the space can be occupied for a long period of time.

On this route, the skateboarder instead spends shorter bursts of time

in one space, and moves from place to place, a movement more

comparable to the behaviour of a window shopper than the

movement experienced by skateboarders at Grey’s Monument.

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Figure 6, Journey from the Civic Centre to the Laing Art Gallery, Source: Adam Todhunter

23

Figure 7, images 1, 2 and 3, show the Civic Centre, a historically

monumental building in Newcastle which holds an alternative

importance for the skateboarders of Newcastle. The skateboarders

jump up and down the steps at the front of the building, navigating

between the sections of bumped floor as illustrated in Figure 7, images

1 and 2. The raised platform, which acts as a border of the Civic Centre,

is also used to perform tricks, despite an attempt to deter

skateboarders by installing ‘skate stoppers’.

The main point that can be shown by looking at the skateboarders’

occupation of these spaces is how use of space can be constrained to

within a specific timeframe. When asked about when the best time to

skate at the Civic Centre is, local skateboarder Daniel Main said, ‘Night

time or a Sunday. The security don't take kindly to skateboarders.’40

Despite this, the skateboarders continue to persevere and use the

space outside of working hours.

The other spaces illustrated along this route are also restricted

temporally. The gap from car park to pavement in front of the office

building (Figure 7, image 4) can only be used when the building is

closed, the banks (Figure 7, images 5 and 6) can only be ridden when

the road is quiet enough, and the spaces in front of the library and

Laing Art Gallery (Figure 7, images 7 and 8) can only be used when

there are not too many people passing through.

40 Daniel Main, Interviewed by the author, 05/01/2015, See: Appendix 1, p. 8.

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Figure 7, Sketches along the route, highlighting the skateboarders’ focus, Source: Adam Todhunter

25

Figure 7 shows locations encountered on the skateboarders’ journey

between two popularly used spaces. A diverse collection of banks,

gaps, rails, and ledges are offered, all unrelated features which are

only linked by the skateboarders’ path. The images highlight which

components of the architecture the skateboarders are concerned

with. There is no interest behind the high street façade and immediate

materiality and shapes become more prominent. Rasmussen said ‘The

act of re-creation is common to all observers; it is the activity that is

necessary in order to experience the thing seen.’41

Here, the hierarchy of architecture is recreated according to the

features that that will directly affect how one rides a skateboard. The

skateboarder’s responsive assessment of usable space, and complete

disregard for the unused, is a relationship with architecture

unexperienced by the passive pedestrians in the city.

German philosopher, Martin Heidegger, argued that ‘things’ should

be seen as more than mere objects, and should be valued through

practical use. Adam Sharr observed this in Heidegger for Architects,

saying ‘For Heidegger, the purity, beauty and timelessness of the

visual idea remained secondary, far removed from daily practicalities

of use.’42

41 Rasmussen, p. 36. 42 Adam Sharr, Heidegger for Architects (London: Routledge, 2007), p. 29.

26

THE QUAYSIDE AND THE LAW COURTS

The journey along the quayside and the Law Courts building offers an

opportunity to explore how the physical constants of a space can both

influence and constrain a skateboarder’s interpretation.

I am going to focus on the Law Courts, which is a location visited

frequently by skateboarders, and which demonstrates the importance

of the material details of a space. The Law Courts is used in two

sections. One is a mellow area with small stairs and a grindable ledge,

and the other consists of two sets of eight stairs in a row (Figure 8),

more challenging terrain for only the more advanced skateboarders.

Figure 8, Skateboarding at the Law Courts, Source: Adam Todhunter

27

Figure 9, Skateboarders’ map of the Quayside, Source: Adam Todhunter

28

The space is read not only by the features such as the stairs which are

of direct interest to the skateboarders but also by the elements that

dictate the physical boundaries. Rasmussen observed this

independent understanding of architecture saying, ‘There is no

objectively correct idea of a thing’s appearance, only an infinite

number of subjective impressions of it.’43 Elements which are seen as

having no direct use indirectly determine how the space is moved

through.


Figure 10, sketches of the quayside, Source: Adam Todhunter

29

The handrails, cracks at the top of stairs, and supporting columns all

define the physical restrictions of the space. Jane Rendell stated, ‘The

rules have already been established; rules about site and space; about

permanence, structure and stability.’44Although interpretations can be

made, one is confined to physical limits of architecture.

The two large sets of stairs are a perfect distance apart in order to land

a trick down the first set and prepare to perform another trick down

the second set. The Law Courts stairs are well known nationally due to

magazine and video coverage, and are tackled by many who visit the

city. When asked about skateboarding at the Law Courts, local

skateboarder Will Creswick said, ‘It is a mark for progression in the

city.’45

When the law courts were featured in Playing Out, one local

skateboarder was quoted saying ‘How long [have the] Law Courts been

around? Years. If you look at the floor all you see is a couple of

scratches.’46 The absence of permanent visual damage might have

played a part in the fact that skateboarders and the public can coexist

in such a law-conscious space.

Heidegger argued the significance of understanding architecture is

less through technical and aesthetic value but more how it is

44 Jane Rendell , 'doing it, (un)doing it, (over)doing it yourself rhetorics of architectural abuse', in Occupying Architecture, ed. by Jonathan Hill(London: Routledge, 1998), p. 232 45 Will Creswick, Interviewed by the author, 05/01/2015, See: Appendix 1, p. 1. 46 Adam Jenson, Michael Jeffries, Sebastian Messer, Jon Swords, 'Playing Out: The Importance of the City as a Playground for Skateboard and Parkour', Bank Street Occasional Papers, (2013), p. 3.

30

experienced, Sharr observed, ‘through the tactile, cognitive and

sociological familiarity of things. A thing is enmeshed in existence,

bound with intricacies of life’s daily experiences.’47 This experienced

definition is rarely the one that the architect associates themselves

with. He goes on to say, ‘architects and historians tended to judge

architecture more according to aesthetic priorities and less according

to the priorities of people who make and inhabit places for

themselves.’48 This leads on to the next section where I will explore

where the skateboarder sits in the architect’s theory of the city and

occupied space.

47 Sharr, p. 35. 48 Sharr, p. 37.

32

REDEFINING SPACE

In this section I am going to break down the skateboarders’ experience

of architecture and space through an architect’s reading of the city.

Architect and urban planner, Steen Eiler Rasmussen, was interested in

the lived experience of architecture and the objects that consume our

lives. In Experiencing Architecture, he provides an insight into what it

is to create and experience architecture for people outside of an

architectural education. He explores an analogy of learning to

experience space from infancy, and demonstrates how one learns to

experience architecture. I will compare his definition of experiencing

architecture with the experience of the skateboarders of Newcastle.

Both the architect and the skateboarder are at a heightened position

in terms of how they can critique architecture. The architect is trained

to think about the wider implications of design and thus views

architecture with a pre-existing understanding of space. The

skateboarder learns to physically experience architecture and thus

experience their surroundings with a similar heightened awareness.

PERSONAL SKILLS

In his analogy of learning to experience space in infancy, Rasmussen

writes, ‘In his helplessness, the baby begins by tasting things, touching

them[…] He quickly learns to use all sorts of contrivances and thereby

avoids some of the more unpleasant experiences.’49 A new

skateboarder, like a child, needs to find his balance and become

comfortable. He must learn how the board turns and reacts to

materials and speed. The skateboarder quickly learns which materials


33

provide an unpleasant experience and which are ‘rideable’. At first, the

skateboarder is constrained by their ability, but the more adept they

become, the more effectively they can use the space. They are aware

of how high they can jump, how long they can grind, and how fast they

can ride. This process of defining personal limits builds a general idea

of what to look for in spaces in terms of texture, size, materiality and

speed, especially so in undefined space where the pre-defined

obstacles of the skatepark do not exist. As skills develop and the limits

are pushed, more opportunities are possible, and the desire for

pushing oneself to engage with more challenging and less obvious

terrain grows.

INTERPRETATION

The child becomes quite adept in the employment of these things. He

seems to project his nerves, all his senses, deep into the lifeless

objects. Confronted by a wall which is so high that he cannot reach up

to feel the top, he nevertheless obtains an impression of what it is like

by throwing his ball against it. In this way he discovers that it is

entirely different from a tautly stretched piece of canvas. With the

help of the ball he receives an impression of the hardness and solidity

of the wall.

By a variety of experiences he quite instinctively learns to judge things

according to weight, solidity, texture, heat conducting ability.50

By feeling the texture of the ground beneath the wheels and the

changing resistance of the different surfaces encountered, the

skateboarder learns more about the space than someone who only

visually assesses the same space. Paths are formed by moving


34

rhythmically through a space, mapping small details such as cracks in

the floor, and thus working out which places to avoid. The process of

documenting a space by experience is place specific. One can learn to

generalise in terms of how certain materials react, but elements such

as cracks, rough patches, and pedestrian routes are determined on a

place specific basis.

Before throwing a stone he first gets the feel of it, turning it over and

over until he has the right grip on it, and then weighing it in his hand.

After doing this often enough, he is able to tell what a stone is like

without touching it at all.51

For skateboarders the process of understanding materiality is a

complex process. Ideally sought-after materials, such as ‘marble,

granite, and tarmac’,52 which provide minimal friction are a key factor

in whether or not a space can be occupied. Concrete and timber

objects have factors that cannot be predetermined by a quick visual

assessment and have to be experienced physically. Rasmussen noted,

‘Materials are judged not only by their surface appearance’.53 Softer

wood and concretes are bad materials for grinding tricks due to the

metal trucks chipping away or digging into the material, therefore

structures around the city made from these materials are avoided.

51 Rasmussen, p. 18. 52Will Creswick, Interviewed by the author, 05/01/2015, See: Appendix 1, p. 2. 53 Rasmussen, p. 182.

35

The Haymarket monument (Figure 11) has long been used by

skateboarders who perform tricks in various ways, jumping on and off

the steps at the base of the monument. To the untrained eye, the steps

appear as if their edges can used to perform grinding tricks. However

due to the soft nature of the stone, performing any tricks that grind

against the edge of the material are not possible. This is evident in

Figure 11, as seen, previous attempts have left sizeable chips.

Even harder wood and concrete fluctuate in how they react to a

skateboard. Exterior finish, angle of edges, and weathering are all

factors which effect the experience. Frequency of use also plays a key

role in experiencing the materiality as overuse can sometimes leave a

material exhausted, to avoid this, skateboarders apply a thin coat of

wax to the edge of an object to act as a lubricant and reduce the

friction between the board and the surface, allowing for a more

pleasant experience, but increasing the markings left behind.

Rasmussen discussed the idea of architecture as an indivisible entity,

saying, ‘His [a man to whom he was explaining a project] reluctance

may have arisen from the correct idea of architecture as something

indivisible, something you cannot separate into a number of elements

Figure 11, Images of the Haymarket monument, Source: Adam Todhunter

36

[...] it is something else and something more.’54 The skateboarder’s

process of breaking down spaces disagrees with the suggestion of

indivisible architecture. For the skateboarder, one of the principal

steps in analysing a space is working out how to define individual

elements, reducing the space to a simplified grid. By disregarding the

intended use of the space, the skateboarder is able to reinterpret the

architecture to pure geometric form, breaking down the space and

connecting elements that are otherwise functionally unrelated.

EXPERIENCING SPACE THROUGH A TOOL

Each one [a tool] seems to have its own personality which fairly

speaks to us like a helpful friend, and each implement has its own

particular effect upon our minds. […] In this way, man first puts his

stamp on the implements he makes and thereafter the implements

exert their influence on man. They become more than purely useful

articles. Besides expanding our field of action, they increase our

vitality.55

By further exploring the how the use of a tool can expand one’s realm

of possibility, we are able to see how the skateboard as a tool can

enhance ones sensory experience of space. The skateboard acts as an

externalised body, creating potential in otherwise inanimate objects.

By kicking a ball against a wall or harnessing the wind with a kite, a tool

is serving as a mechanism to gain something from nothing.

Thinking of a skateboard as a tool does not provide a linear solution

such as a kite in the wind, but instead opens up an infinite number of

solutions to experiencing a space. It is dependent on a number of

54 Rasmussen, p. 9. 55 Rasmussen, p. 30.

37

individual factors such as what tricks a skateboarder can do, how high

he can jump, and what he enjoys doing, which effects how the spaces

are personally defined.

READING SPACE

As previously mentioned, for some, the marks left behind on surfaces

through the act of skateboarding are seen as vandalism, but for the

skateboarders they are a historical account of how others have

previously used the same space. Marks are created when the trucks

grind against an edge, the wax used by the skateboarders to reduce

friction is worn onto the fabric of the material, or skid marks are left

by the wheels. They are all forms of markings which can be used by

other skateboarders to read the space.

Figure 12 shows an example of a marked space in Newcastle. The

marks can be read to determine how frequently the space is used,

which parts are used most, and for how long it has been used. Known

as ‘Quayside ledge’ by the skateboarders of Newcastle, this space

illustrates how marks can be used to read the space. The far left image

shows much more intense marks than the far right image, signalling a

well-used surface compared to the lesser marked ledge which offers

little immediate interest, but provides a blank canvas to be

interpreted.

38

Existing marks on the surfaces influence the skateboarders’ idea of

what is usable, they will naturally migrate towards marked areas

rather than using a space with unknown properties. Rasmussen

touched on the factors which affect our impressions, saying, ‘What

impression [a work of art] makes depends not only on the work of art

but to a great extent on the observer’s susceptibility. His mentality, his

education, his entire environment’.56 This is also true in terms of how

places are read and defined as part of a group. Michel de Certeau

understood, ‘Their intertwined paths give their shape to spaces. They

[the pedestrians] weave places together.’57 There is less emphasis on

individual movement and more emphasis on sharing the space,

moving in more regular, predictable patterns in order to avoid conflict

with others.

56 Rasmussen, p. 36. 57 de Certeau, p. 97.

Figure 12, Quayside ledges, Source: Adam Todhunter

39

MAPPING MOVEMENT IN THE CITY

In analysing how the activity of skateboarding relates to the larger

context, it is important to acknowledge the significance of both the

masses and the individual who collectively occupy the city. Michel de

Certeau’s Practice of Everyday Life explores how social representation

and modes of social behaviour are used by individuals and groups. In

examining the masses who occupy the city, he draws on the

importance of private meanings to the individual who is ‘trying to

retain a fundamental sense of themselves from the omnipresent forces

of commerce, politics and culture.58 The breaking down of personal

relationships with the architecture of the city explored by de Certeau

is both evident, and also challenged by skateboarding culture.

At street level the city is occupied by individuals, but when viewed at

a larger scale they become streams of constant flow, representing

mass movement in the city. De Certeau defined this movement in the

city, stating, ‘They [the pedestrians] cannot be counted because each

unit has a qualitative character: a style of tactile apprehension and

kinaesthetic appropriation. Their swarming mass is an innumerable

collection of singularities.’ 59

Contrary to the mass movement of the public, the skateboarders’

position in the city can be mapped in a much more comprehensive

way. Instead of defining movement through the act of passing by, the

movement is based on rhythm and repetition. ‘They transform the

scene, but they cannot be fixed in a certain place by images’.60 The

skateboarders, unlike the ‘walkers’61 can occupy a single space for

58 de Certeau, back cover. 59 de Certeau, p. 97. 60 de Certeau, p. 102. 61 de Certeau, p. 93.

40

prolonged periods of time, which means that they can be captured at

stationary positions. This is evident at the aforementioned Grey’s

Monument, the Law Courts, and the Civic Centre, where the same

space can be occupied by skateboarders for hours at a time.

At this fixed position in a city in motion, the skateboarders are at a

unique position to map public movement. By seeing not individuals,

but a constant flow of people passing by, assessment can be made on

how the density of people varies in place and time, and whether the

coexistence of skateboarders and public is feasible. De Certeau states,

‘The moving about that the city multiplies and concentrates makes the

city itself an immense social experience of lacking a place.’62 The

skateboarders who find stationary moments, find their place in the

city.

The public movement through the area surrounding the Grey’s

Monument in the day is a complex system of weaving paths (Figure

13) between the metro station and various shops, making

skateboarding very challenging as the main desirable routes (Figure

14) cross those of the public. The enjoyment of skateboarding is

about undertaking a free flowing movement, and not being

overwhelmed by the overcrowded city which is illustrated in Figure

15. When asked about what time skateboarders use the space local

skateboarder Will Creswick, said ‘In the evening while town

transitions from shopping to clubbing - usually between 6-8.63

62 de Certeau, p. 103. 63 Will Creswick, Interviewed by the author, 05/01/2015, See: Appendix 1, p. 1.

41

Figure 13. Pedestrian flow Figure 14. Skateboarder flow

Figure 15, Time-lapse of the monument, Source: Adam Todhunter

42

CROSSING BOUNDARIES

The walker actualizes some of these possibilities. In that way he

makes them exist as well as emerge. But he also moves them about

and he invents others…64

De Certeau refers to the ‘pedestrian speech act’,65 the suggestion

that through walking, the individual enunciates their position, leaving

their marks on the city. I agree with this theory when looking at

movement on a mass scale, however, when looking at the movement

of the individual walking through the city, their challenge to the

boundaries of space is of an unintrusive approach. Though the walker

can defy social boundaries by walking away from the path or jumping

a wall, the material boundaries of space are not defied. ‘The average

pedestrian experiences architecture at a casual and indirect level, one

that places architecture in the background of the user.’66

Ron Allen wrote in skateboard magazine, Slap, ‘Benches, banks, and

smooth pavement are what skaters really like. Citizens use some of

these elements every day, almost to the point of excess, but still have

no appreciation for the structure itself ‘. 67 He reinforces the

suggestion that only through the use of a tool can the boundaries of

a space or object truly be questioned at a physical level. The

64 de Certeau, p. 98. 65 de Certeau, p. 97. 66 Bobby Young, 'A Skateboarder's Guide to Architecture or an Architect's Guide to Skateboarding', The Kids are Alright, 3.4, in Loud Paper <http://www.loudpapermag.com/articles/a-skateboarders-guide-to-architecture-or-an-architects-guide-to-skateboarding> [accessed 29 December 2014]. 67 Ron Allen, in: Iain Borden, Skateboarding, Space and the City: Architecture and the Body (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2001), p. 188.

43

possibilities of challenging boundaries are fully actualised by the

skateboarders, and inanimate objects are given a new significance.

The rock climber drills into the cliff face and leaves their mark, as

opposed to a free climber who climbs the face leaving no evidence

behind. In the same way, the skateboarder leaves their mark on the

city, while the walker leaves little physical evidence to be questioned.

The social boundaries that are constructed within the city encourage

classifying spaces by their purpose. ‘He [the user of the city] condemns

certain places to inertia or disappearance and composes with others

special “turns of phrase” that are “rare,” “accidental” or illegitimate.’68

Recognising certain places and disregarding others is a process carried

out by both the skateboarders and the walkers of the city. Although in

most cases there is a fundamental difference in how spaces are

classified, and what is of interest varies, there is a defined hierarchy of

spaces.

In an opposing position to the mass movement, skateboarders often

revive the lost relics to the city, and disregard the mainstream. The top

two images in Figure 16 show Pilgrim Street and the White Blocks, two

places which have seemingly been erased from the public map of

Newcastle, but which the skateboarders still profoundly value. Pilgrim

Street is a set of stairs which has now been isolated due to the

demolition of a high level walkway, the White Blocks are a sequence

of platforms outside of the city centre which serve no obvious purpose

other than for the skateboarders to perform tricks jumping from one

to another. Local skateboarder, Bryan was quoted in Playing Out,

68de Certeau, p. 99.

44

saying, ‘You can just find something no one wants, no use and you can

turn it into something.’69

Even in occupied spaces, the process of disregarding elements is

unconsciously done by the public. In front of The Newcastle Public

Library, as seen in the bottom image of Figure 16, there is a pathway

divided by low walls. For pedestrians these act as nothing more than a

69 Jenson, p. 4.

Figure 16, images of

Newcastle,

Source: Adam Todhunter

45

division of space. The skateboarder sees them and thinks about width,

height, length, and how close they are to each other, a set of defining

factors which play a minor role in the public perception of this space.

In a culture stuck on cruise control, the other skater chooses to operate

in a forgotten no-man’s land. In fact the skater thrives on using the

discarded, abandoned and generally disregarded portions and

structures of the society at large.70

Parts of the city centre such as Northumberland Street and other main

shopping streets are disregarded by skaters. The densely populated

areas most popular with consumers offer little or no opportunity for

stationary moments. The street is designed for the act of passing by,

with the heart of consumerist activities occurring behind the street

façade. Skateboarders disregard the idea of the façade and are much

more interested in the human scale aspects of architecture at ground

level.

By this process of refinement, architecture is reduced to pure

geometric forms, the city above street level is distilled to a silhouette.

The façades which usually play a key role in how the individual reads

the building context for an insight to their functions offer little

information and relevance to the skateboarders.

70 Lowboy, in: Iain Borden, Skateboarding, Space and the City: Architecture and the Body (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2001), p. 188.

46

Conclusion

Throughout this dissertation I have illustrated how skateboarding

engages with architecture. The occupation of the city by skateboarders

of Newcastle argues that it is possible for people other than architects

to ‘do’ architecture. In reimagining the architecture of Newcastle, the

skateboarders are practicing architecture. They imagine the city in a

completely new light, a city that coexists alongside that of the public

and the architect’s city. When discussing the longevity of doing

architecture Jane Rendell said, ‘Architecture is physically made by

builders, and long after the building has been made the non-architects

continuously do architecture.’71

The skateboarders disregard for capitalist ideals of the city puts them

in a unique position where pre-existing ideas of function and hierarchy

are dismissed in favour of physical characteristics. By reducing space

to pure geometric forms the skateboarder is truly experiencing the

architecture, not in terms of the design purpose, but in challenging the

potential of the physical possibilities of space. All of the locations in

Newcastle that I have discussed in this piece are experienced in a way

that was not foreseen in the architect’s design.

Through showing how influential architecture is for skateboarders in

how they actualise the potential of their surroundings, the opposite

becomes apparent; skateboarding can be influential to architecture.

The architect can learn from the skateboarder. In Bobby Young’s A

Skateboarder’s Guide to Architecture, he acknowledged, ‘We [the

architects] have to attempt to document these dynamic relationships

between the architecture and its user. Last, we need to utilize these

documents to begin to create a space that holds the possibility of

71 Rendell, p. 232

47

improvisation by the user.’72 I believe that the future of architecture is

creating more dynamic spaces. By trying to deter the happenings of

the city nothing will be consensually achieved. The future is to realise

the potential for space and promote improvisational use.

Although my source of skateboarding culture in Newcastle is from

first-hand knowledge as well as surveys with local skateboarders, it is

impossible to represent every skateboarder. The information in this

dissertation expresses the opinions of the skateboarding majority,

however, there are many different groups who may orientate their

experience with different weighting on different places. This highlights

the diverse culture and nonlinear approach to using architecture.

The skateboarder’s intimate connection with spaces in Newcastle

reinforces a thriving sub-culture and sense of heritage towards

otherwise unexperienced elements of the city. They develop rhythmic

motion through space and map areas according to an extensive

criteria, appreciating the true physical detail of the space. Unlike the

passive relationship the average individual has with architecture, the

skateboarders, along with others who interpret through use of tools,

are in a position of amplified possibilities.

By mapping the skateboarder’s city I have shown how the city is

reduced to series of moments, a series of stationary points, which put

the skateboarders at an advantaged point to map not only their own

interpretations of space but also how the public move through the city

in the act of passing by.

72 Young, [accessed 29 December 2014].

49

APPENDIX 1

SKATEBOARDERS OF NEWCASTLE

SURVEY

50

Name Will Creswick

Date 03/01/2015

Which “street spots” do you visit most frequently in Newcastle?

Law Courts, Civic Centre, Uni Ledges, Haymarket

What are the most famous skateboarding spots in Newcastle and why?

Queens banks has a long list of ABDs (Already Been Done) making it a famous spot in town and has been skated by many different generations. Law Courts has this is common and is a mark for progression in the city

Why do you use Wax?

Wax is used to coat the part of the ledge acting as a lubricant, reducing the friction between said ledge, allowing the board to slide and perform grinds

What is there to skate at greys monument?

A platform varying in size making it accessible for all kinds of skaters. The small ledge that goes to a big 2 stair gives the spot more possibilities. There are also surrounding marble benches

When do you skate at greys monument?

Usually skated in the evening while town transitions from shopping to clubbing/ Usually between 6-8

What is there to skate at the civic centre?

A 5 stair with ledges either side. A long three stair with a small bank and also an inclined manual pad.

51

When is best to skate at the civic centre and why?

The evening is usually best when less people are coming in and out. Security always kick you out in the day.

What materials do you look for in a skate spot?

Marble granite or Tarmac, usually for smooth floor and grinds. However a variety makes a spot interesting.

What is the skateboarding culture like in Newcastle?

It’s fairly similar to other big cities in the UK in the way that people are always filming videos and a lot of this revolves around their local skate shop. Also the city is always developing and this effects how people in the city skate.

52

Name Jack Veitch

Date 05/01/2015


We usually just go wherever everyone wants to skate, some spots what come to mind when I think of Newcastle skateboarding are hay market 3, civic centre, china town ledge, church ledge, St James carpark slappy curbs & the whole uni is full with spots.


Smack head double set is one of the most famous spots of Newcastle in my opinion, it's a 3 set flat 3 double set, I thought it was mental when one of the homies tried to Ollie it then someone told me about Scott cherry switch heel flipping it back in the day & blew my mind, there's also Law Courts, smack head 10 & the leap of faith which is the biggest ledge I've seen in my life 3

Why do you use Wax?

I use wax so my trucks are nice & lubed up for those 50 50s


At greys monument there is a 2 set, 2 marble benches & the metro wall border which will Creswick somehow managed to shred!

53


Usually if we are out skating town we end up at monument close to the end of a session because everyone can skate it & it's right next to the metro


The civic centre has a lot if shit to skate, there's a longish small 3 set, a bank going up the 3 for disabled access or something which is good to play around on, civic 8 stairs, a gnarly hubba with skate stoppers in front of it & allot of other random stuff to shred


I'm not sure if there is a certain time to skate civic to be honest I've been kicked out more times I've skated there, the security are angry little specimens there's no chance of talking them into letting you skate


In a skate spot I look for smooth ground, a nice little stair set to mess around on, a ledge/manny pad of some sort, lights & a good area so night skating doesn't feel sketchy


The skate scene in Newcastle is sick! Everyone knows everyone nobody cares if you're not up to their level of radness & all the sick people I've befriended just from coming out & sharing the same passion for skating.

54

Name Ben Armson

Date 05/01/2015


Monument, Newcastle college, Newcastle uni, smooth path haha, civic


Law courts stairs a lot of people have done a lot of different stuff there so to do something new there is pretty hard so it's seen as kind of a measure of how good a person is or gap to bench is also seen like that.

Why do you use Wax?

Waxing something makes it easier to slide or grind that particular obstacle stopping friction, a lot of skate able obstacles can only be skated with the aid of wax.


The marble benches are very appealing to skaters for grinds and slides the actual monument itself is good for doing tricks down the stair set towards grey street.


Usually in the evening or on Sunday's when's it’s a little quieter there's quite a lot of people passing by in the day so it makes it hard to skate.


A small stair set a small bank cut into the stairs a larger stair set round the other side of the building.

55


Civic is a little quieter than a lot of spots so you can skate in the day but there are security guards that kick you out so again it's better to skate in the evening or night I you want longer.


In general just a smooth surface each material usually offered different possibilities/tricks.


There's a lot of diverse people in the Newcastle scene but it’s pretty tight, most people know each other and everyone skates together.

56

Name Daniel Main

Date 09/01/2015


5 bridges - originally a street spot with a single bank and flat ground. Still keeping the street skaters alive through the North East weather!


The original Haymarket ledges (RIP) - best place to hang and meet the homies on a weekend. The old University setup used to be sick until they renovated the whole area and skate stopped the whole place. Newcastle college before they skate stopped everything. China town ledges used to be a sick warm up spot after hitting native being so close. And Of Course the law courts. I used to love throwing myself down the 8 stairs although times change and you realise you're not the young spring chicken you once were. Still plenty of good times at that place!

Why do you use Wax? I don't use wax it's for bandits


The manny pad with the two set at the end of it at monument is decent but I just don't see the point in skating the ledges because they don't grind. Maybe I should start using wax? Ha ha.

57


Once or twice a year or when people drag me there.


Civic centre is pretty good but normally a bust. Pretty fun 3 set with bank and an 8 set around the corner. Recently people have skated the top step into the bank.


Night time or a Sunday. The security don't take kindly to skateboarders’ e.g. Buster Caulker ending up in court over some bullshit.


Manny pads are my favourite spot to skate so if a spot has one or something along those lines I can have a lot more fun. Or maybe a ledge manny pad combo! Banks are a must too. Anything marble or metal.


The skate scene in Newcastle for me isn't as good as it used to be when I first started. I remember at least 30+ being on a sesh at one point and now you struggle to get a handful. All the best dudes though and everyone feeds off each other. Definitely still the best scene from anywhere I've visited in the U.K. though.

59

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