Public space as a landscape of possibilities

‘50/50’ explores the potential of public spaces through skateboarding as a practice of appropriation. The title refers to a skateboarding trick and also stands for the ambivalence between use and prohibition, access and exclusion.

Challenge

How can the tension between urban freedom and regulated space be made tangible through design? The aim was to examine space as a culturally shaped field of negotiation – not only in terms of design, but also through the perspectives of those who use it on a daily basis. To this end,

I conducted interviews with architects of public spaces in Innsbruck and Bolzano, as well as with skateboarders and passers-by. This research for- med the content basis for the subsequent spatial design implementation.

Solution

At the heart of the project are large-scale cardboard installations on a 1:1 scale – deliberately fragile and non-functional. They refer to the reali- ty of many public spaces that exist but cannot be used – especially for activities such as skateboar- ding. The installations function as symbolic spatial concepts and question urban mechanisms of ex- clusion. The project is complemented by drawings, photographs and interviews that examine real and imagined spatial situations from different perspec- tives. Design is not understood here as a solution, but as an impulse for reflection.

This project explores the limitations and potential of urban spaces through a combination of creative, documentary, and research-based approaches. It serves as an artistic and conceptual investigation into the ways in which urban participation takes shape and where it reaches its limits.

The work merges spatial installation, illustration, and visual documentation to highlight how individuals interact with public environments, and to question the boundaries of access, use, and collective space.