This striking project on the northern edge of Mexico does many things. It's a safe public space; an open air venue for everybody, supporting social inclusion; a valuable destination for the wider area’s skateboarding community, promoting exercise and sports; and an eye-catching piece of skatepark architecture, defined by strong concrete volumes and colourful architecture. Welcome to the pink concrete La Duna Skatepark, created in Ciudad Juárez by a team composed of Francisco Elías of the Elías Group; Valia Wright Sánchez; Eduardo Peón Velázquez; the local university architecture faculty, Facultad de arquitectura de la UNAM; the federal government’s Ministry of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development; and architect and skater Edgar Rico.
The skatepark’s architectural landscape
The project's programme included a skating rink, an administration building and classrooms for workshops. Combining this multifunctional aspect with the region's natural setting, the architecture team drew inspiration from the nearby Samalayuca dunes to create the undulating, organic shapes of the skatepark’s architectural landscape.
‘The building was conceived as a cave through which the covered plaza and the skating rink are connected, through a portico that protects the service module, an office and three classrooms, which overlook the lake and can be used together with the square,' say the team.
A viewing platform on the upper level of the main building offers wide views of the cityscape and the horizon beyond. It also functions as a multipurpose space for events, and an observatory for the skating activities below. Made of colourful, light pink concrete, this example of skatepark architecture is a striking urban landmark, with its curves, slopes and planting, which will mature to provide shading and an important green element. The generous facilities can accomodate up to 5,000 guests.
‘The team, headed by landscape architects Valia Wright and Eduardo Peón and architect Francisco Elías, also included urban planners and sociologists,’ say the park’s creators. ‘Their main objective was to understand the dynamics of the relationship between the park, the local community and the existing urban environment, at the same time bringing in a bit of the natural context of the Chihuahuan Desert.’
-
Dial into the Boring Phone and more smartphone alternativesFrom the deliberately dull new Boring Phone to Honor’s latest hook-up with Porsche, a host of new devices that do the phone thing slightly differently
-
Berlinde De Bruyckere’s angels without faces touch down in Venice churchBelgian artist Berlinde De Bruyckere’s recent archangel sculptures occupy the 16th-century white marble Abbazia di San Giorgio Maggiore for the Venice Biennale 2024
-
Discover Acqua di Parma’s new Mandarino di Sicilia fragrance at Milan Design Week 2024Acqua di Parma and Fornice Objects bring the splendour of Sicilian mandarin fields to Milan to celebrate new fragrance Mandarino di Sicilia
-
The best gyms around the world for design buffs in 2018 -
Skate park design goes to the British seaside with Guy Hollaway’s F51F51 is Folkestone's brand new, dedicated, multistorey skate park, courtesy of the Roger De Haan Charitable Trust and Hollaway Studio
-
Community centre architecture redefined: Holborn House by 6a and Caragh Thuring opensHolborn House by 6a Architects and Caragh Thuring opens for the Holborn Community Association in London, bridging art and community architecture with people at its heart
-
Last chance to play: Yinka Ilori's colourful basketball court in Canary Wharf is a slam dunkArtist and designer Yinka Ilori applied his signature colourful geometries to his design for this new public basketball court in Canary Wharf, London
-
Building muscle: London architecture walks and runsTry these London architecture walks and runs for some physical and intellectual edification
-
Janne Tuunanen captures modernist architecture of renovated Helsinki Olympic StadiumPhotographer Janne Tuunanen captures the sharp modernist architecture of the recently renovated Helsinki Olympic Stadium in Finland in his latest series
-
Yinka Ilori’s colourful skatepark in France is a pillar of the communitySport, street art and community merge in Yinka Ilori’s skatepark in Roubaix, project that is part of Lille’s World Capital of Design 2020
-
Blaque makes space for Black people in the fitness and wellness industryBlaque founder T’Nisha Symone discusses the philosophy behind finding a gym designed to serve her local community
