Skateboarding and the City: A Complete History

by Iain Borden

Overview

Skateboarding is both a sport and a way of life. Creative, physical, graphic, urban and controversial, it is full of contradictions – a billion-dollar global industry which still retains its vibrant, counter-cultural heart.

Skateboarding and the City presents the only complete history of the sport, exploring the story of skate culture from the surf-beaches of '60s California to the latest developments in street-skating today. Written by a life-long skater who also happens to be an architectural historian, and packed through with full-colour images – of skaters, boards, moves, graphics, and film-stills – this passionate, readable and rigorously-researched book explores the history of skateboarding and reveals a vivid understanding of how skateboarders, through their actions, experience the city and its architecture in a unique way.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472583451
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	02/21/2019
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	8.20(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Iain Borden Director of Architectural History and Theory and Reader in Architecture and Urban Culture at the Bartlett,University College London

Table of Contents

Illustrations
Acknowledgments

1. Introduction

SECTION ONE
Skateboard Scenes

2. Skateboards
Scooters and Surfing
Old School
New School

3. Living by the Board
Freaks and Geeks
Everything in Between
Home Turf and Foreign Lands
Beer and Barneys
Positive and Loving
Middle Age Shred
All Girl Skate Jam
Polycultural Practices

4. Affiliate Worlds
Being Professional
Companies and Brands
Organizations and Control
Boom Boom HuckJam

5. Media Worlds
Truth and Screw the Consequences
Wide-Angled Viewing
Skateboarding at the Movies
Video Worlds
Social Media

SECTION TWO
Skateboarding

6. Found Space
Asphalt and Concrete Waves
Forevers
Into the Deep End
Blue Tile Obsession

7. Skatopia
Concrete Utopia
Mutant Wood

8. Skatepark Renaissance
A New Dawn
Plazas and Paths
Terrain Vague
DIY
Skatepark Worlds

9. Super-Architectural Space
Body Space
Ask the Coping
Flow
Projecting

10. Skate and Destroy
The City is the Hardware
Zero Degree Architecture
Urban Rhythms
Writing the City
Decentred Objects
Speaking the City

11. Movement Without Words
Critical Citizens
Beyond the Shiny Product
Gifts of Freedom
Ban This
Skateboarding is Not a Crime

SECTION THREE
Skate and Create

12. Artistry
Graphic Design
Art
Skateable Sculpture
Creativity

13. Do It For Others
Public Space
Moving History
Healthy Living
Building Business
Building Lives

14. Skateboarding – a Magnificent Life?

References
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

The book is superbly researched, colorfully and beautifully illustrated, and thoroughly analyzes the topic. It has the physical appearance of an elegant coffee-table book combined with outstanding scholarship, effectively employing theory and empirical data, particularly the oral and written testimony of participants.” —CHOICE

“There's absolutely no way I can do the work justice here – the book is incredibly thought-provoking, especially from the perspective of actually being a skateboarder. I highly recommend it.” —Sidewalk Magazine (praise for Skateboarding, Space and the City, 2001)

“SA fine book that I recommend to any skateboarder who can read at a college level.” —Big Brother Skateboarding Magazine (praise for Skateboarding, Space and the City)

“This is an amazing book and a real surprise … A first. Pick it up and you'll learn something interesting about the cities you skate in; you might even learn something about skating itself.” —Slap Skateboard Magazine (praise for Skateboarding, Space and the City)

“Skateboarders help us to think about buildings and their use. Borden argues that they draw our attention to the city as the site of perpetual change.” —The Independent (praise for Skateboarding, Space and the City)

“Borden owes as much to 30 years of personal passion and experience as he does to any architectural or social theory.” —The Architect's Journal (praise for Skateboarding, Space and the City)

“Iain Borden's contribution to the field must be considered a milestone ... Incorporat[ing] a great volume of visual and textual material [this is] an interesting account that will attract both passionate skateboarders and academics who seek to broaden their understanding and appreciation of this small but remarkably influential wooden board.” —Brief Encounters

From the Publisher