Tag: parkour park design

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What Are Parkour Parks?

This article is a part of the Public Parkour Park Roadmap Series by Caitlin Pontrella

This is a deceptively simple question. While there are maybe a dozen purpose-built parkour parks in North America as of 2020, informal parkour environments have existed all over the world in every single city in an unlimited number of forms for decades.

The reality is that the practice of parkour does not require a dedicated facility or location. Practitioners have been finding creative ways to transform the places they live into the places they play for over 30 years, discovering their own parkour parks and equipment in the wild–disguised as buildings, public squares, old playgrounds, large fountains, stairwells, construction scaffolding, and landscaping. (Wondering why should you bother with building a park if it can be practiced anywhere?)

I want you to start with this perspective: that everyone who has ever been in a park or public space has enjoyed a parkour environment. This is a powerful frame because it can open up new perspectives on how to enroll the wider community in the design these dedicated parks.

Question: What do recent parkour parks look like?

Components
Most purpose-built parkour parks and gyms are composed of geometric forms and structures of different shape, size, and height. These components have different adjacent, density, distance. Components are designed in consideration of the various movement typologies–running, jumping, swinging, climbing, crawling, balancing, etc

Materiality
Materials are as variable as any other type of playground–wood, concrete, brick, stone, plastic, steel, and rubber–and are permanently fixed. Flooring is designed for reducing impact such as grass, loose rubber, poured rubber, sand, or wood chips. This leaves a lot of room for designers to get creative.

Location, Size, Budget
Parks spaces have been (1)components in larger master plans, (2) independent stand alone builds, and (3) temporary installations. Size can vary from micro interventions (such as a bench re-design) to large scale action parks for 50+ people. For this reason, budget on a project can range from $1000 – 100,000+

These PK Parks are well suited for the ‘left over’ spaces of cities — beneath bridges and overpasses, in-between buildings–with lighting, signage and open access.

Furthermore, these are year-round accessible, with parkour practice encouraging training in diverse environmental conditions.

Users
Users are inter-generational, with teens and adults the primary user groups. You can learn more about the types of users that could activate this space in this article.

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The Parkour Park Paradox: Why Spend Money On Something That Can Be Done Anywhere?

This article is a part of the Public Parkour Park Roadmap Series by Caitlin Pontrella

Question: Parkour can be practiced in existing environments with found infrastructure. The development of parkour parks and facilities, therefore, appears to be a paradox. Why spend precious community resources on something that doesn’t require parks and courses?

Answer: With enough creativity, Parkour can be practiced anywhere. However, there are several significant challenges limiting free practice and community building. There also are specific spatial qualities that consistently attract practitioners, offering higher quality opportunities for play, exploration, and physical challenge.

A purpose-built parkour environment has several benefits:

  • Quality Conditions for Instruction And Technical Practice
    Not all found structures are suitable for physical activity. Railings and benches can be damaged. Walls can be too rough or mossy. Anti-skateboarding wax makes surfaces slick.

    Purpose-built environments can set up ideal physical circumstances for community groups and practitioners to more safely teach and refine skills. Designed components can also endure impact and intensive physical use better.
  • Safety, Permission, and Normalization
    Play in non-play spaces is stigmatized. Most teenage and adult practitioners can cite experiences of public harassment and policing. Some cities even have local laws in place forbidding 13+ populations from using playgrounds

    Purpose-built environments are spaces of permission and safety where practitioners can gather, socialize, relax, and practice free from this type of harassment and fear. These spaces can also help normalize inter-generational play over time through exposure and if integrated with other public uses.
  • Experimental Design & Creativity
    By conceiving spaces with movement in mind, designers can create unusual and provoking places to inspire a new level of experimentation, problem-solving, and creativity.

Finally, that parkour can be practiced anywhere is also why we as community advocates must also pursue creating spaces that can serve broader interests than parkour alone. Parkour can be providing architects and planners with critical lessons about multi-functionality and mobility justice that can be integrated into all designs, not just designated park spaces.