Rethinking Public Space Through a Skateboarder’s Eyes

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Created by California surfers who wanted to bring the lines of surfing onto asphalt, skateboarding soon outgrew its role as a simple alternative for flat days. It established itself as a practice that reads the city through a different logic, reinterpreting steps, handrails, walls, and interstitial spaces as possible lines, challenges, and opportunities. Over time, it evolved into a global urban culture, a way of inhabiting and transforming public space through movement. What was once marginal has become a catalyst for urban activation, community building, and new uses for overlooked spaces. At its core, skateboarding reveals how many cities coexist within the same city, depending on who moves through them and how each person is able to reinterpret their surroundings.

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Igualada Skatepark. Image © Pol Viladoms
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Cite: Eduardo Souza. "Rethinking Public Space Through a Skateboarder’s Eyes" 25 Nov 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1036121/rethinking-public-space-through-a-skateboarders-eyes> ISSN 0719-8884

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