Urban Landscape

This article appeared in the San Fransisco Chronicle during the late summer of 1994. Thanks to murray (punklove@sirius.com) for the transcription and submission of this article.

                              The Urban Landscape
                                by Leah Garchik


   Having banned skateboarders at Justin Herman Plaza, San Francisco
officials are considering a ban in Union Square. Some urban experts,
however, think that the skateboarders fulfill a philosophical need.
   In an essay in the design magazine Metropolis, Marc Spiegler- who
calls San Francisco's Embarcadero Center "the Chartres Cathedral of
skateboarding"- notes that the open plazas created by architects in
the International Style are natural turf for skateboarders. Their
presence, Spiegler writes, bridges the gap between the public and what
critics have called "relentlessly austere, even inhumane" modern
structures by architects such as Mies van der Rohe.
   Most skateboarders were in their own neighborhoods until techniques
in the sport grew more sophisticated. "Three years ago," said Brian
Hadaka, editor of the skating magazine 312, "Chicago's skateboarders
started hitting the Loop a lot because cruising around the school yards
with their street curbs and rough, flat surfaces just doesn't cut it
anymore. For the type of skating that's going on today, downtown is
the place to be." The polished marble planes of van der Rohe's plazas
are Mecca to Chicago's skateboarders.
   Most American downtowns are empty at night, writes Spiegler. "In a
sense, nighttime skateboarders represent a rare example of people
using the downtown at night... But the skaters represent more than
just secondary users; they essentially redefine business and
governmental spaces"
   Spiegler quotes Jesse Neuhaus, a former professional skateboarder
who owns a sandwich shop in downtown Chicago; "The corporate types
see their structures as powerful and strong," he said. "I see them as
something I can enjoy, something I can manipulate to my advantage."