concrete

Swompton Bowl. 2013

Swampy’s Backyard Bowl – Swompton, England

“A lot of people have been down here. Some come and don’t want to skate. Some are scared to drop in. Most struggle to find speed, and all will eat shit at some point. I’ve seen a lot of heads bounce off the concrete, mine included. Some days I’ll have a skate and the bowl will kick my arse. People will come with their boards, but will leave with hippers, swellbows, bruises, cuts and of course covered in dust.
My bowl was a case of I wanted something to skate. I built it, I skate it.” – Swampy

Herzblut at the Beauty DIY – Zürich, Switzerland

The Beauty is our winter spot. Rough, cold and dusty. Sketchy trannies and more then often some gravel in the corners. It’s located in a wonderful squat called “Autnomous Beauty Salon” in Zurich. We built it after we finished the Beast as a nice winter option.

Lloyd Houston. No comply tail and Joel Taylor 5-0. Photo: Toby Monks

Aberystwyth D.I.Y – Wales

It’s a rough ass micro-coaster, the sort of thing you’d love to hate, but we built it, so we shred it.

Hullet DIY – Copenhagen, Denmark

“It started when a group of young skaters from Wonderland got shut down from building a new spot next to Wonderland in Christinia. So the same day they moved there efforts around the city until they found the spot where Hullet is at now….” – Danger

Pool Boys shred fest – Antwerp, Belgium

It was the second time these kids organized this event and it was already twice as big as last year. A really nice sunday afternoon with loads of good vibes!

Pumpa Party 2013 – Postojna, Slovenia

The Boldrider’s guys have organized two days of party and skate sesh, with16 bands playing, because they were supposed to destroy all the concrete and the vert ramp at the gas station in Postojna. I was so sad about that, but so hyped at the same time to meet up with all the guys. Whoever was there knows the situation… the atmosphere was so rad.

2er Builders Jam – Hannover, Germany – Part 1 & 2

On arrival I don’t think anyone really knew what we were getting ourselves in for the following week back in early June in Hannover, Germany. The basic idea was that the 2 er – ‘the two stair’ Crew had the idea to invite D.I.Y (Do It Yourself) Skate crews from all corners of Europe to come to their spot and each team would be given 3 days to build something.

Helmbrechts skatepark – Bavaria, Germany

Martin Ehrenberger of Blackriver, designed the park based on the notion of creating a park accessible to all skateboarders – regardless of their skill level.

A Day in the Life of Francisco “França” Lopez – Portuguese skatepark designer

One of the leading names in Portugal is Francisco “França” Lopez.

With over a quarter century with a skateboard under his feet, father of a kid who already has amazing skateboarding in his veins, team manager of the Portuguese DC Shoes, and the architect skater with more skate parks designed in Portugal than any other is now facing one of the biggest challenges of his career: create a company to build skate parks, starting at Parque das Gerações. I spent one day with him to try to understand how he can manage all this and still rip like a kid.

MY DIY overview.

MY D.I.Y. – Atwater, California

“I’ve been doing concrete work for about fifteen years. It was just a job and had never occurred to me to use my knowledge of concrete for skateboarding until I met the Vagabond crew.” – Gene Boles