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Skate-Friendly Starchitecture

Wired reports on a new trend in the high profile, high art brand of architecture wherein stars like Zaha Hadid and Simon Ewings accept-and even embrace-the use of their buildings by skateboarders: "...though the new Oslo Opera House (shown here) was inspired by the image of two glaciers colliding, the..

Andrew Price
By Andrew PriceDec 03, 2008
Andrew Price
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Wiredreports on a new trend in the high profile, high art brand of architecture wherein stars like Zaha Hadid and Simon Ewings accept-and even embrace-the use of their buildings by skateboarders:"...though the new Oslo Opera House (shown here) was inspired by the image of two glaciers colliding, the architects at Snøhetta didn't call on glaciologists to help fine-tune the details. They enlisted real experts in twisted planes: skateboarders. 'We spoke to them about surface textures and the areas they prefer,' architect Simon Ewings says. His firm followed up the conversation with a statement in stone."I'm not sure the Oslo Opera House has, as Wired puts it, "as many gnarly facets as the best skate parks," but it's great that some architects seem to be accommodating skaters. In a country with a growing obesity problem, it seems like the worst kind of catch-22 to cover the landscape with buildings and pavement and then forbid people from using these features for a spontaneous and creative brand of exercise.You might as well chain kids to their PS3s.

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