Spatial Appropri-Action : Tactics for the post-industrial designer

Abstract: This is a project that asks questions. Why are we behaving in certain ways? Why are we using objects for a certain purpose and not others? Why can’t we do it differently? Questions most of us never even consider because we have gotten so used to following the path that is predetermined for us. Throughout this work I will analyze how skateboarding poses a critique of spatial regulations and pre-defined purposes, as well as how skaters are suggesting a whole new perspective on our everyday life. I argue that skaters are in fact the post-industrial designers of their everyday life, and that the perspective of skaters carries potential for sustainable change as it favors the imagination and possibilities over restrictions and limitations. This is a perspective that I believe can help us make better use of the resources we have, both in terms of ecological sustainability, but also with regards to social aspects, as it allows for greater diversity and multitudes of behaviors within the same space. Through several design iterations I have explored how skateboarding offers tactics that can be applied by others to start a process of imagining and performing alternative ways of engaging with public spaces.