I want to take a minute to take a break
from architecture. This post will be more about design and business. Both of
those topics alone are what architecture really is when it comes to the main
key points of how architecture is today, but today it’s going to be about a
hobby that I partake in outside of school. Most of my time goes to
architecture, eating, and sleep. But I do spend my little free time I have
working on skateboards. I have done a lot of research on the topic of
skateboarding, mostly the history of it, and I would say I have a good
understanding of why skateboarding is the way it is. Skateboarding is something
that I am also passionate about, and I have been for almost all of my life.
After
bearing through a couple years of architecture school, I learned skills that
others don’t learn. A lot of them are design skills, and the rest are
craftsmanship. Prior to architecture school I had a bit of experience designing
and crafting long board skateboards. It was something my dad taught me. But
what I had begun to appreciate was the nature of wood. There are many features
of wood that are just plain beautiful. I use wood in most of my designs because
I find it so wonderful and appealing. So since those first encounters of
crafting with wood and learning a design process, I have taken that into a
different application.
With
much of my research, skateboards made in the early 1960’s and early 1970’s are
made of solid wood. Most of which were DIY skateboards. But with all the
products out in the world today, I thought to myself, why not recreate those
first skateboards that really got the scene going. I used my design process I
learned from architecture school to design skateboard shapes that are
historically contextual, but elegant and beautiful. After a few pushes this
became something more than just a few experiment skateboards. It is now a
business, not a thriving one, but it’s an infant skateboard business that
someday may be somewhat success, that’s if the cards are played right.
It
is not my intention to just talk about skateboarding the whole time. I have
used this skateboard crafting hobby to fuel my design in architecture school.
When we, as students, go through school, we spend much of our time designing
and thinking extremely hard about one singular thing. After a while we get
designers block and are on pause for longer than we have time for. It’s very
unfortunate. But there is a way around that. First it’s taking a break from
architecture. But second it’s still thinking about design. This second rule is
the most important due to the fact that as soon as we turn our creative
thinking off, it is hard to get back into the groove. So what I am saying is
that I use this skateboard crafting hobby to keep my brain going, I transfer from
one line of design to the next. It’s a process that I have found successful in
helping me with studio design work, and also designing my hobby.
So
to say the least, take a break, but keep thinking about design. Be Creative.
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