As part of my personal development plan, I was eager to pick up on my rusty filming and video editing skills with other software. In this case I used a trial version of Sony Vegas Pro 10.0 which is much like the Adobe Premier Pro package.
I used a Sony VX1000 to film all of the video contents. Although this camera is somewhat old, it captures a very distinctive quality of video that some cameras fail to record (HD), this distinctive quality is a result of its 3ccd or 3-chip image/colour processing system.
The aim behind my filmed site visit was of course, to develop my visual communication skills through means of producing a short video, but also to support and raise awareness of my exploration on my blog (An Achievable Vision…). The video can be watched below, pour yourself a cup of coffee and enjoy.
FOCUS 2 (LD3005) wk1 from John Barnes on Vimeo.
South Bank is regarded as one of London's oldest and most iconic skate spots, attracting many enthusiasts to make use of an attractive and useful destination to throw down their tricks. This area is only within a 5 minute walk away from the city's Waterloo Station and a matter of seconds away from the River Thames, which is passed frequently by a large number of pedestrians through night and day. The Embankment area in which it nestles in, has gone through rapid transformations in terms of re-development throughout the past number of decades, particularly post 80's. The video below documents the transformation of South Bank in mid 20th century.
With reference to A Brief City, a large number of small spaces were "planned intimately", a number of these spaces were re-transformed into larger spaces in later years, South Bank skate spot as we know it was indeed one of these spaces that was left unchanged, because of this the popularity of these pocket spaces have grown significantly especially to those who attract the attention of passers by, though positively in nature. These people have varied from graffiti artists, bmx'ers, rollerbladers, skateboarders and free-runners, all of which are categorised as types of expressive art forms. The display of these activities only seem right due to the fact that South Bank area in general is widely known from the public and commercial sector as Europe's key centre for visual arts.
The main success of South Bank skate spot is the fact that the small space does not feel governed by anyone else apart from its users, they get on with what they love to do without being at risk of constant gruelling which would almost definitely take place elsewhere in an urban environment throughout London and any other city alike. It is scenarios like these that help create truly magnificent and unparalleled environments to be part of (for both enthusiasts and pedestrians), but in order for such a scenario to be successful, aspects of respect, control and guidance must be made whether or not they are forced or encouraged by local management and security organisations through restrictions and regulations or even by Landscape Architects and Urban Designers whereby certain elements of design could reduce any potential clashes of disagreement between both users of the single space.
South Bank skate spot was not an area that was designed to cater for these hobbyists, in this case they made use of a neglected space over time, one that was not considered to have productive qualities to the wider public in any way whatsoever.
The success of growing positive relationships between skateboarders and pedestrians within this area seems somewhat hard to comprehend from a glance, especially when this space was not even intended to create a much needed delight in this respect, much to the bewilderment and luck of the site users. Though, there are numerous qualities found within and around the site that help reduce conflict between these mentioned users, e.g. by means of pedestrian emotions and decisions that are evoked from certain gestures of changing directions of infrastructure that are present within the skate spot. In this case the following qualities are merely coincidences in skate spot success, but I find it important to explore exactly why it is successful, therefore with such knowledge one is able to deter or make skateboarding highly practical after the processes of design and construction in urban spaces.
Allot of these qualities can be seen in the video provided above, the composed relationship between pedestrians and skateboarders can also be captured.
Skateboarders rarely go out with the obvious spatial divide into the pedestrian flow, all of the architectural artefacts that are skate-able are contained within a sheltered space that is predominantly below ground level, though not at the first half of the spot situated further west. A continual shelter and a few barriers aid this spatial divide parallel to the pedestrian walkway, during rain the shelter becomes far more successful in the division of site users but this division is typically effective regardless of weather patterns. Interestingly, in some cases pedestrians can be found within the sheltered spot during times of heavy rain whilst skateboarding takes place. The locations of barriers surrounding the northern area of the spot are installed for the safety of pedestrians, preventing anyone to fall or trip down the steep flat banks that result in sudden changes in ground level. The change in ground level allows pedestrians to view what is happening within the spot with greater clarity, a large fraction of these pedestrians become spectators, on many accounts these spectators photograph and admire the expressive art-forms for a pre-longed amount of time without being at risk of injury. The flat banks also mildly dampen noise levels that come from South Bank skate spot.
Graffiti is evident on every wall within the space, often non-assuming and very vibrant, frequently changing. This display of art always captures the attention of passers by, though perhaps graffiti is not always the most ideal art-form to be part of due to its reputation, through this skateboarders at South Bank may be judged as a result of this.
The strong line that clearly separates these contrasting spaces results in the creation of this needed space of comfort and reassurance for pedestrians to pass through regularly, such emotions could be influenced by something as simple as the casting of sunlight on the strip of walkway for pedestrians (since these areas are directly exposed to the sun), whilst the skate spot remains artificially lit; a difference in medium that allows one to sub-consciously feel spatially disconnected from an area that they might not want to be directly associated with.
Due to the prime and central location of this site, in many situations, the generic notion of this dark, dingy and dangerous place is not usually thought of by many in South Bank, instead this space can be looked upon as a unique, productive and a harmless space since firm security and management enforcements are highly reckoned by passers-by and spectators.
No comments:
Post a Comment