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RIDE.PDX
an inhabited bridge + skate/bmx park for portland, oregon

Master of Architecture
University of Oregon.Portland
Suzanne Zuniga, Adviser

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Who says skateparks have to be square?

Skateboarding culture in California began in the 1960s when members of Dogtown, the last great seaside slum dedicated to being “anti-mainstream”, began to develop techniques for surfing on land. Called “Urban Guerrillas” these pioneering skaters would redefine the way built form could be used and abused in an effort to push the limits of riding.

The ride culture in Portland must attribute much of its acceptance to the Burnside Skatepark. Internationally acclaimed as a mecca of skating, not only for the physical design, but for the initiative taken by individuals to make a derelict place their own, this park ultimately helped clean up the Central Eastside surrounding the Burnside Bridge, and gained city approval in the process.

As public acceptance and funding continues to grow, parks for riding are being developed throughout the metro region, typically located in community parks and urban renewal areas aimed at attracting families and armatures as well as professionals. Because of this, the Dogtown notion of riders taking to the downtown streets and industrial yards is frowned upon. Cited as destructive to materials, countless safety and danger factors, inconvenience for other users, and having the potential to foster illicit activities like trespassing and vandalism, officials are more likely to try and stop urban riding than promote it. Though many argue that half the fun of heading to a place for a ride involves getting there, so can this urban activity ever really be stopped?

The urban dilemma becomes the driver of the design.

This pedestrian and cycling bridge serves as a new type of crossing for skateboarders, bmx bikers, and skaters alike. Serving as an experimental place in various patterns of flow and movement, this heavy landscape aims at reinterpreting the way riders pass through spaces and how outside users can begin to experience this culture where desire and curiosity are the driving factors.

The rule to play, live, and design by is simple: RIDE YOUR CITY.