Last year Nicolas Nova blogged about element of public space that restrict usage – specifically skateboarding, and as one commenter suggested, lying down. Without remembering his post, I took these pictures the other day:
It’s still ugly, but there’s an emotional component (“cute” – “fun” – “neat”) created by the whimsical shapes that counteracts that reaction quite strongly. Many of the anti-sit installations appear as an afterthought, a post-design, without any integration into the original vision. These were probably added after the original design but there’s some attempt to retrofit, conceptually or visually. I’m sure the original planners and architects are horrified, but it kinda mostly works.
Tags: anti-sit, anti-skateboard, design, embarcadero, nicolas nova, post-design, public space, San Francisco
Anti-skateboard devices in San Francisco. Via Portigal. sd-02.28
Pingback by Coudal Partners 03.02.07 @ 9:49 am
Anti-skateboard devices in San Francisco. Via Portigal. sd-today
Pingback by Coudal Partners 02.28.07 @ 4:21 pmThe ‘anti-sit’ gallery you linked to really disturbed me. This is a most anti-social way to tackle a problem, which only serves to make things look bloody ugly and give the impression that the building/site etc is not a people-friendly place. The nautical theme above isn’t quite so bad, however it’s still anti-social, hasn’t been thought about beforehand, and ends up looking just a little bit daft.
Comment by minxlj 02.28.07 @ 9:33 amwow that’s the second step!
Comment by nicolas 02.28.07 @ 9:32 amI am still sure it pisses off lots of skateboarders (like those who insult me on my blogpost for some weird reasons)
[...] ho trovato un post che raccoglie decine di immagini di dissuasori anti/seduta, tipo questa:
Pingback by WWW.bezerker.IT 02.28.07 @ 11:23 amcerto, magari qualcuno ci prova gusto…
ma la vera novità è il dissuasore anti skateboard!! sapessi andarci mi divertirei a schivare conchiglie e piovrette. che pregevole fattura questi manufatti di “anti-design” [...]
[...] LINK: Anti-skateboard Devices on the EmbarcaderoLINK: Another post about anti-skate devices and user experience [...]
Pingback by This Place Is… » Don’t sit here… Posts About People-deterrents 03.02.07 @ 10:22 am
or rather their parents, I suggest we follow the example set by San Francisco on the Embarcadero. Now that I think about it, there might be similar features to be found on benches at the Chico State campus. The picture you see in this post came from chittah chattah blog. As you can see, the devices on the cement bench would not be fun to skate over or around thus eliminating skating all together in the area. I think Chico officials ought to take note and spare the kids and their parents, along with the officers who
Pingback by A Day In The Life of Tony Rocha 03.02.07 @ 3:20 pmThe sawtooth anti-sit devices are hideous, but I think that lumping them with the devices on the Embarcadero is erroneous. The ones on the Embarcadero are not anti-sit, they are anti-skateboard. I have sat and lain down on this portion of the waterfront many a time and was not impeded by octopi or star fish. Granted, a larger person than me might have a harder time, but they are not nearly so restrictive as is made out above. Preventing skateboarding may seem unfair, but skateboarding makes sitters, layers and nearby standers all uncomfortable. Would you want to sit on a wall where skaters were coming at you every thirty seconds? Furthermore, skateboarding, over time, absolutely tears up the edges of seats–even concrete. This is very expensive to fix. I think San Francisco has actually been pretty good about it’s anti-skate methods, some of it’s anti-lay-down devices are a bit more troubling, but let’s not get into that right now.
Comment by Eric 03.05.07 @ 8:40 pmThanks for the thoughts, Eric. We can point at two things and say “this is how they are similar” – we can also say “this is how they are not similar” – I’m pointing out similarities (retro fit, primary purpose to restrict a behavior) and that is not erroneous. I appreciate your different criteria for what makes a germane comparison, of course.
Comment by Steve Portigal 03.05.07 @ 9:12 pm
[...] …LINK: Anti-skateboard Devices on the Embarcadero LINK: Another post about anti-skate devices and user experience [...]
Pingback by Don’t sit here… Posts About People-Deterrents (://URLFAN) 05.07.07 @ 11:27 amare you fucking kidding me? i can’t skate the 4 gap 3 anymore, and now theres a fucking OCTUPUS!
Comment by warren 01.26.08 @ 7:45 pmFUCK YOU!
Anti skateboard devices are a big no no for skateboard lovers grinding and sliding off those bars. Anti-sit and anti-skateboard materials are incorporated to them are not a good idea at all.
Comment by skateboard 05.12.08 @ 9:47 pm[...] posts: In November ‘07, Nicolas and Steve had another go-round on anti-skating [...]
Pingback by All This ChittahChattah » Affordance Control 01.03.09 @ 1:25 pm[...] and Anti-Skate devices:These are devices specifically added to buildings, walls, steps, etc. to directly and [...]
Pingback by neonascent » Blog Archive » Urban Architecture #1 10.06.09 @ 6:15 am[...] planners came to integrate these anti-skate devices more elegantly as seen in San Francisco’s Embarcadero, but they’re still very clearly recognizable for what they are: a sad bureaucratic compromise [...]
Pingback by Skateboarding, Technology and Urban Planning · StrangeJournal.com 04.04.10 @ 6:43 am