Holm Architecture Office (HAO), in collaboration with VM Studio, recently received first place in a competition for the re-design of the Coleman Oval Skate Park in Manhattan. Nine New York design firms were invited to participate in the competition, which was sponsored by Architecture for Humanity and a Gamechangers grant from Nike, a campaign encouraging community organizations to empower youth through sports programs that spur social and economic development. The project is being developed with the New York City Parks & Recreation Department’s Adopt-a-Park program. More images and project description after the break.
The Coleman Oval Skate Park, situated partly under the Manhattan Bridge on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, has become one of the most heavily trafficked skate parks in New York City. Their winning solution re-imagines the park and conceives a program designed specifically to suit the unique character and demographic mix of the surrounding neighborhood.
With the new skate park and seating area as the cornerstone of the revitalization of the larger Coleman Oval Park, HAO proposes a plug-and-play design solution that can be developed in phases while still establishing a strong unified architectural solution.
The first part of the new design, the Skate Park and seating area, is expected to be completed mid 2012.
Architects: Holm Architecture Office + VM Studio
Location: Coleman Oval Park, Manhattan, New York, United States
Program: Playground, Skate Park, Public Park, Stage, Dog Run, Base Ball Field & Sports Program
Type: Invited Competition
Client: Architecture for Humanity & Steve Rodriguez / 5boro
Status: Ongoing
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- Courtesy of Holm Architecture Office + VM Studio
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- Courtesy of Holm Architecture Office + VM Studio
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- Courtesy of Holm Architecture Office + VM Studio
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- Courtesy of Holm Architecture Office + VM Studio
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- Courtesy of Holm Architecture Office + VM Studio
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This just looks like another one of those unfortunate skateparks designed by architects who think they know something about skateboarding because their software can make some curvy structures. My guess is that it’ll sit derelict. What a waste. Hire a skatepark
Designer if you want a real skatepark (that works right and that people will want to skate). Otherwise just call it a sculpture park.
thats the truth my friend. its no wonder why the kids do drugs. skateparks like this – that’s why.
“hey, let’s rob a bank!” -future children of new york
After having designed and built several parks all I can say is this is a rip off. I could have done better in 15 minutes for free.
oh no. this is terrible. it just ruined my day. the renderings don’t even make sense. you can’t let architects who don’t skate design a skatepark, I hope that they at least hire park builders who know what they’re doing. 5boro needs to take some initiative on this one.
5boro son!
This is terrible. naive and uninformed approach. not to mention extremely wasteful.
Please hire a skatepark consultant. As an exSponsored skater and licensed architect who has worked on skatepark design, I can tell you that you have no idea what you are doing.
Give the local skateboarders 500 bags of concrete and free reign if you want to see what skateboarding is really about…
This is lame and a big letdown to the NY skateboarders. No skaters will be happy with some some random “designer sculptures”. Do some research and hire a real skatepark designer who actually skate.
Best of luck!
I’m surprised there aren’t more skaters/architects. There seemed to be a quite a few in architecture school.
Dear Holm Architecture Office, please stick to what you are good at doing.
Skateparks need to be designed by skateboarders, I am not talking about kids. I am talking about well established and well respected skate park designer/builders like Site Design Group (pier 62) and California Skateparks (Far Rockaway) to name just two.
Definitely agree with the comments, feels like it hasn’t been designed by skaters, or with skaters in mind. I understand that they want it useable by all but giving ti to mainly skaters will mean its used all the time anyway. Saying that Steve Rodriguez has supposedly been involved so I think it must be better thought out just not very well presented. The super pipe looks pretty stupid, the images show skaters getting air and hand plants off it but how will that happen without space to get flow and momentum? I’m a skateboarder and architect, but I would definitely not design a park without getting advice from other street/bowl/vert skaters and the skating community.
…the dummy people were cut-out from the metrobox kap 686 fotos – you should better have copied the whole idea than just the fotos!!!
please look at this for your next research:
http://www.archdaily.com/165327/kap-686-skate-park-metrobox-architekten/
I currently designed a skatepark for a local community. Being an architecture student and regularly visiting skateparks as a kid I thought I was qualified enough to at least know how to design a proper one. Well afterwards we took our design to skatepark design firm and in detail went over what would and wouldn’t work and I have to say that I learned a lot from that experience. So I can’t imagine some architect with no experience of the skate scene treading these waters. It’s a science of it’s own having to understand transitions, angles, flow, etc. which this “skatepark” lacks greatly.
Here’s the proof that being an architect isn’t enough to design a skatepark/skateable place, and this project shows that no research has been done, all the circulations and the scale between elements is wrong.
Ivo do u have any resource which can help me for designing skate park in my bachelor final tez? can you please help me in research?
Dears
I need some information about designing of skate park for my bachelor final tez. if any one can help me please advise , thanks & regards.