ECHOSKATE PLAZA
Urban and Public Furniture Design
EchoSkate Plaza is the first modular skate track made entirely with the recovery of waste materials, it also promotes inclusiveness through the use of sound signals for the visually impaired. The idea stems from the desire of the start-up SkateparkItaly to use the skate as a driver to regenerate the suburbs and problematic urban systems. Starting from this idea, the studio has included the construction process within the circular economy with the help of digital fabrication as a construction technology. To complete the project, a method was devised to integrate the skate teaching methodology used for the visually impaired through acoustic signals. The project was developed starting from a study on the production of waste in the territory of of the Republic of design (Bovisa – Dergano – Lancetti – Isola), identifying the main production chains in the area and analyzing the main types of waste produced such as plastic by packaging companies (produced by historical trucking companies, couriers and shippers – https://books.google.it/books?id=kBBryDecouriers & f = false) and wood coming from the presence of 2.0 handicraft activities strongly rooted in the area (as reported in the article https://thesubmarine.it/ HYPERLINK “https://thesubmarine.it/2017/02/22/bovisa-e-nostalgia/” HYPERLINK “). The specific structural characteristics of these materials have been studied and used in the design in different constructive logics. For example: the high flexibility and mechanical strength of the wood was used to manage the curved parts of the slopes, while the use of recycled plastics for the construction of panels allows the creation of larger and flatter surfaces. Following these logics, a series of modules have been created based on the organic rationalization of the use, treatment and processing of materials within the production and construction process. The production logic thus obtained has been further hybridized with a system that allows inclusiveness (following the logic of teaching the discipline of skate for the visually impaired), through the inclusion of a passive and non-invasive system of sound textures that allow visually impaired subjects to use the slopes independently (or almost). To conclude the project aims to enhance the community as a generator of innovative relationships on a social level between people and the city through the processes of circular economy, inclusiveness and regeneration of urban spaces.