Design the Ride: A Skatepark Design Workshop

Students explore what makes a skatepark challenging, memorable, and welcoming to a community. Working in teams of five or six, each participant selects an element—such as a bowl, rail, stair set, or quarter pipe—then sketches, builds, and sculpts it as part of a shared park design.

Teams present their finished concepts and test the models with miniature skateboards. Architects and designers offer guidance and feedback, while guests from Skate Ecosystems share firsthand experience designing and riding skateparks. Photographs, 3D-printed models, and sculptures in the Kinetics of Urban Movement exhibition provide additional inspiration.

The workshop is part of the arcHERtecture series, which encourages girls to explore architecture careers, and is suitable for participants whether or not they already skate.