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Iain Borden (born in Oxford in 1962) is an English architectural historian and urban commentator.
Educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford (MCS), Iain Borden graduated from University of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1985, and went on to complete master's degrees at UCL and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and a PhD at UCL. [1] He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. [2]
His historical and theoretical interests have led to publications on, among other subjects: critical theory and architectural historical methodology (InterSections: Architectural Histories and Critical Theories, (Routledge, 2000)), the history of skateboarding as an urban practice (Skateboarding and the City: a Complete History, (Bloomsbury, 2019) [3] ), boundaries and surveillance, theorists Henri Lefebvre and Georg Simmel, film and architecture, gender and architecture, body spaces and the experience of city spaces (The Unknown City: Contesting Architecture and Social Space, (MIT Press, 2001)).
Borden has also undertaken a history of automobile driving as a spatial experience of cities, landscapes and architecture, and particularly as represented on film: Drive: Journeys through Film, Cities and Landscapes, (Reaktion, 2012). [4] Borden's own appearances on film include the 2015 interview by the character, Philomena Cunk. [5]
For many years Borden has been involved in skateboarding history, preservation and facility provision, including providing advice to Milton Keynes council in the early 2000s, which helped lead to the creation of the 'Buszy', often considered to be the world's first skate plaza. [6] In London, 2013, he was involved in events around the controversial Southbank Centre plans to relocate skateboarding on its site. [7] He supported the retention of skateboarding at the original Undercroft location and elsewhere on the Southbank, appearing in the "Save Our Southbank" and Long Live Southbank videos to this end, and playing a significant part in the proposed new skateable space underneath the nearby Hungerford Bridge. [8]
In 2014, Borden helped English Heritage list the Rom skatepark in Hornchurch (constructed 1978), the first such skatepark in Europe to gain heritage protection, [9] and was technical consultant for the Rom Boys: 40 Years of Rad documentary directed by Matt Harris. [10]
Borden has written several articles in national newspapers extolling the history, virtues and benefits of skateboarding to society, and has given advice on skateboard preservation, facility design and provision to numerous city authorities, architects and skatepark manufacturers in the UK and USA. [11] He acted as an adviser for the multi-million pound F51 facility in Folkestone, UK, the world's first multi-level skatepark (opening 2022), designed by Guy Hollaway Architects with Maverick and Cambian Action Sports for the Roger De Haan Charitable Trust. [12] In 2018, Borden helped initiate and design a new skatepark in Crystal Palace, south London, [13] and two years later he co-authored the Skateboard England, Skateboard GB and Sport England official Design and Development Guidance for Skateboarding, a document giving advice on design, construction and build of skateparks and skateable spaces. [14]
Iain Borden is Vice-Dean Education (since 2015) at The Bartlett, University College London (UCL), and Professor of Architecture and Urban Culture (since 2002). [15] From 2001 to 2009 he was Director/Head of the Bartlett School of Architecture, and from 2010 to 2015 Vice-Dean Communication.
In his own research, Borden is particularly well known for his academic studies of everyday occurrences such as car driving, skateboarding, walking and movies in relation to contemporary architecture and public spaces. His books Skateboarding and the City: a Complete History (Bloomsbury, 2019) and predecessor Skateboarding, Space and the City: Architecture and the Body, (Berg, 2001) offered an analytical and historical account of skateboarding, in part using the philosophy of Henri Lefebvre to interpret this global practice as a creative, political and urban act. His book Drive: Journeys through Film, Cities and Landscapes (Reaktion, 2012), similarly explored automobile driving as experiences of cities and urban spaces, using cinematic representations to explore different speeds, landscape and social conditions. Other research explores bridges, tunnels, observation wheels, tower cranes and other large scale everyday architectures as symbols of urban and political conditions. [16]
Skateboarding is an action sport that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry job, and a method of transportation. Originating in the United States, skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2009 report found that the skateboarding market is worth an estimated $4.8 billion in annual revenue, with 11.08 million active skateboarders in the world. In 2016, it was announced that skateboarding would be represented at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, for both male and female teams.
A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, wheelchairs, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, quarter pipes, ledges, spine transfers, pyramids, banked ramps, full pipes, pools, bowls, snake runs, and any number of other objects.
The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts classical, jazz, and avant-garde music, talks and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by Benjamin Britten.
The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment, also known as The Bartlett, is the academic centre for the study of the built environment at University College London (UCL), United Kingdom. It is home to thirteen departments that have expertise in individual subfields, including the Bartlett School of Architecture, Bartlett School of Planning, Bartlett Development Planning Unit, and the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis. The Bartlett is consistently ranked the highest in Europe and the UK and among the highest in the world for the "Architecture and the Built Environment" category in major rankings. It is currently ranked the first in the world for the year 2023.
Harrow Skate Park or Harrow Solid Surf is one of only two remaining 1970's shotcrete skateparks still operating in the United Kingdom. It is located next to Byron Park and Harrow Leisure Centre in Wealdstone in the London Borough of Harrow, England.
A skateboard style refers to the way a skateboarder prefers to ride a skateboard. Skateboard styles can be broadly divided into two different categories: skateboarding to perform tricks and skateboarding as a means of transportation. Styles of skateboarding have evolved and are influenced by a number of factors including sociocultural evolution, mass media, music, technology, corporate influence and individual skill level.
SITE Design Group is a consulting firm specializing in landscape architecture, urban planning and skateparks. Based in Solana Beach, California, the firm operates worldwide and has overseen the creation of over 100 parks.
Street skateboarding is a skateboarding discipline which focuses on flat-ground tricks, grinds, slides and aerials within urban environments, and public spaces. Street skateboarders meet, skate, and hang out in and around urban areas referred to as "spots," which are commonly streets, plazas or industrial areas. To add variety and complexity to street skateboarding, obstacles such as handrails, stairs, walls, flower beds, bins, park benches, picnic tables, and other street furniture may be traversed as single tricks or as part of a series of consecutive tricks called a "line."
Matthew Gandy, FBA is a geographer and urbanist. He is Professor of Cultural and Historical Geography and Fellow of King's College at the University of Cambridge, moving from University College London (UCL) in 2015, where he was also the founder and first Director of the UCL Urban Laboratory from 2005 to 2011.
Long Live Southbank, commonly known as LLSB, is a non-profit organisation that successfully campaigned against the redevelopment of the Southbank Undercroft skateboarding spot at the Southbank Centre site in London, England. The organisation is now campaigning to safeguard the space and help the community continue to evolve creatively.
CJ Lim is the Academic Professor of Architecture and Urbanism at The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment at University College London (UCL); and served as Vice-Dean and Pro-Provost of University College London. He is the founder and director of Studio 8 Architects, a UK-based multidisciplinary and international practice in sustainable urban planning, architecture and landscape, focusing on interpretations of social, cultural and environmental programmes. Along with Simon Dickens and Bernd Felsinger (2006-2016), Lim leads PG Unit 10 within The Bartlett School of Architecture's Architecture MArch course.
Barbara Penner is an architectural historian and Professor of Architectural Humanities at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London. She is a specialist in the history of small spaces, specifically the bathroom and toilet, and has written on the institution of the honeymoon in 19th century North America.
Jane Rendell is an architectural historian, cultural critic and art writer. She has taught at Chelsea College of Art and Design, Winchester School of Art, and the University of Nottingham. She has been based at the Bartlett School of Architecture at UCL since 2000, where she has been Professor of Architecture and Art since 2008, teaching primarily across the Situated Practice, Architectural History and PhD programmes. She was Director of Architectural Research (2004–10) and Vice Dean Research (2010-3). She is currently Director of Architectural History and Theory and leads the Bartlett’s Ethics Commission.
Ken Worpole is a writer and social historian whose many books include works of literary criticism, architectural history, and landscape aesthetics, and was one of the editors of the 2001 United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS) report, The State of the World’s Cities. In 2005 The Independent newspaper stated that: ‘For many years, Ken Worpole has been one of the shrewdest and sharpest observers of the English social landscape.’ In 2014 ICON Review similarly observed that ‘For well over 40 years Ken Worpole has been one of the most eloquent and forward thinking writers in Britain.’
Jos Boys is an architect, activist, educator, and writer. She was a founder member of Matrix Feminist Design Co-operative and co-author of their 1984 book Making Space: Women and the Man-Made Environment. Since 2008 she has been co-director of The DisOrdinary Architecture Project with disabled artist Zoe Partington, a disability-led platform that works with disabled artists to explore new ways to think about disability in architectural and design discourse and practice.
Steve Steadham is a regular-footed American skateboarding pioneer, former Bones Brigade member, and musician.
Matrix Feminist Design Co-Operative was formed in London in 1981. It was one of the first architectural organisations worldwide to bring a feminist approach to architecture and the design of the built environment and to challenge patriarchal spatial systems. Matrix pursued these objectives through built projects, theoretical analysis, commissioned research and publications, including the book Making Space:Women and the Man-made Environment. The book explores relationships between gender and architecture, building on the then emerging work from feminist geographers and historians in the UK and USA, including Doreen Massey, Linda McDowell, Susana Torre and Dolores Hayden.
Murray Fraser is Professor of Architecture and Global Culture at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London (UCL).
The Maratha Ditch was a 3-mile long deep entrenchment constructed by the English East India Company around Fort William in Calcutta. It was built to protect the surrounding villages and forts from the Maratha Bargi raiders. The ditch marked the outer limits of Calcutta city in the nineteenth century.
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