Skatestoppers are skate-deterrent or anti-skate devices placed on urban terrain features such as benches and handrails to discourage skateboarders grinding on the surfaces where they have been installed; [1] they are a form of hostile architecture. [1]
The name Skatestopper is a registered trademark of Intellicept of El Cajon, California, [2] but in some skateboarding circles it has become a genericized term referring to any anti-skate device. [3]
The most basic design is an L-shaped bracket affixed at intervals along the grind-able structure. [1] Early designs were made from nylon [1] while more recent designs have been made from aluminum. [4] At the same time more ornamental versions have been produced. [4] The devices have been targeted for removal by skateboarders resulting in attempts to make them tamper resistant. [4]
Some have viewed skatestoppers as just another obstacle to be overcome and the presence of skatestoppers actually encourages them to stay in the location longer. [5]
Skateboarding is an action sport originating in the United States 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. 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 skateboarding trick, or simply a trick, is a maneuver performed by manipulating a skateboard, usually with one's feet, in a specific way to achieve the desired outcome – the trick.
Inline skates are a type of roller skate used for inline skating. Unlike quad skates, which have two front and two rear wheels, inline skates typically have two to five wheels arranged in a single line. Some, especially those for recreation, have a rubber "stop" or "brake" block attached to the rear of one or occasionally both of the skates so that the skater can slow down or stop by leaning back on the foot with the brake skate.
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.
Chad Muska is an American professional skateboarder, musician and entrepreneur. In November 2012, Skin Phillips, editor-in-chief of Transworld Skateboarding, described Muska as "one of the most marketable pros skateboarding has ever seen."
Soap was the brand name of shoes made for grinding, similar to aggressive inline skating. They were introduced by Chris Morris of Artemis Innovations Inc. with the brand name "Soap" in 1997. They have a plastic concavity in the sole, which allows the wearer to grind on objects such as pipes, handrails, and stone ledges. The company and its product rapidly gained popularity through fansites, a video game and live demonstrations. Soap fell to legal vulnerabilities, and was sold twice, eventually bringing the brand to Heeling Sports Limited.
Grind is a 2003 American skateboarding comedy film directed by Casey La Scala, and written by record producer Ralph Sall, who also composed the score. The film stars Mike Vogel, Vince Vieluf, Adam Brody and Joey Kern as four teenage aspiring amateur skaters trying to make it in the world of pro skateboarding by pulling insane stunts in front of their pro skater idol. It was critically panned and flopped at the box office, but has been received more positively by audiences.
A kick scooter is a human-powered street vehicle with a handlebar, deck, and wheels propelled by a rider pushing off the ground with their leg. Today the most common scooters are made of aluminum, titanium, and steel. Some kick scooters made for younger children have 3 to 4 wheels and are made of plastic and do not fold. High-performance kickbikes are also made.
Iain Borden is an English architectural historian and urban commentator.
In skateboarding, grinds are tricks that involve the skateboarder sliding along a surface, making contact with the trucks of the skateboard. Grinds can be performed on any object narrow enough to fit between wheels and are performed on curbs, rails, the coping of a skate ramp, funboxes, ledges, and a variety of other surfaces.
Hubba Hideout was one of the most famous skateboarding spots. It was located in San Francisco near the Justin Herman Plaza on The Embarcadero. Its central features were two oversized sets of 6 stairs with large concrete ledges on both sides. The spot is part of a pedestrian walkway but was more commonly used by the local skateboarders and vagrants. The city of San Francisco made numerous attempts over the years to ward off skateboarders from the spot, and in January 2011 city workers completely demolished its ledges and stairs.
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 over time and are influenced by a number of factors including sociocultural evolution, mass media, music, technology, corporate influence and individual skill level.
An escalator is a moving staircase which carries people between floors of a building or structure. It consists of a motor-driven chain of individually linked steps on a track which cycle on a pair of tracks which keep the step tread horizontal.
Aggressive inline skating is a sub-discipline of inline skating in the action sports canon. Aggressive inline skates are specially modified to accommodate grinds and jumps. Aggressive skating can take place on found street obstacles or at skate 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."
The Vancouver Skate Plaza is a skatepark in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is located under the Georgia Street and Dunsmuir viaducts at the corner of Union St. and Quebec St. It was designed and built in 2004, making it the first Street plaza skatepark.
Hostile architecture is an urban-design strategy that uses elements of the built environment to purposefully guide or restrict behaviour. It often targets people who use or rely on public space more than others, such as youth, poor people, and homeless people, by restricting the physical behaviours they can engage in.
The West LA Courthouse is a street skateboarding spot in Santa Monica, Los Angeles County, California. Once an illicit skate spot, this location became a public skatepark. Nike Skateboarding hosted a "Go Skateboarding Day" event in 2014 that led to a chain of events in which local skatepark advocates worked with the city to convert the space into a legal skate spot. Now, it exists as an aesthetically unique and historically rich skatepark, combining both the angular aesthetics of the courthouse's original design with a vibrant paint job that changes occasionally and a mural that also sees changes to mark contests or holidays in the skateboarding community.
The Portsmouth Square pedestrian bridge is a prominent architectural landmark in San Francisco's Chinatown that spans over Kearny Street from Portsmouth Square to the second floor and third floor of the Hilton San Francisco Financial District hotel, which houses the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco.
An example of an everyday technology that’s used to forbid certain activities is “skateboard deterrents,” that is, those little studs added to handrails and ledges. These devices, sometimes also called “skatestoppers” or “pig ears,” prevent skateboarders from performing sliding—or “grinding”—tricks across horizontal edges. A small skateboard deterrence industry has developed, with vendors with names like “stopagrind.com” and “grindtoahault.com.”
Media related to Skate stops at Wikimedia Commons