Raphaël Zarka adds colourful skatepark in front of Centre Pompidou

Artist Raphaël Zarka has collaborated with local architect Jean-Benoît Vétillard to create a horseshoe-shaped skatepark defined by bold colours in Paris.

Commissioned by art museum Centre Pompidou and supported by sportswear brand Nike, the Cycloid Piazza skatepark is located in Centre Pompidou's square and functions as a public sculpture for both skateboarders and general visitors.

Built from painted birch plywood, the sculpture by Zarka and Vétillard provides 400 square metres of skateable space largely made up of a semi-circular bowl and a 3.5-metre-tall ramp.

Three types of curves were used for the structure, each highlighted through the use of colour – with shades of green, blue and yellow corresponding to the cycloid, ellipse and arc curves, respectively.

A sloping ramp on one side of the sculpture serves as an entrance point into the skatepark.

Wrapping around the sculpture's exterior edge is a "convex theatre" made up of four steps, complemented by a series of white-painted passageways that provide circulation around the space.

Also included in the layout is a one-metre-high bump or "wave" nestled between the ramp and bowl.

Additional details include black steel barriers used to encase the highest platforms, and steel poles that wrap around the edges of the ramps.

Zarka, who has designed numerous skateparks in the past, draws influence for his designs from the work of mathematician Galileo.

"The experiments of Galileo and his successors allow me to consider the infrastructures built for the use of skateboarding as so many instruments intended for the involuntary study of classical mechanics", Zarka said.

The sculpture was built in time for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which start this week, and will remain on display outside the Centre Pompidou until 15 September 2024.

Recent news revealed that the Centre Pompidou is set to undergo a major renovation designed by French studio Moreau Kusunoki Architectes and Mexican practice Frida Escobedo Studio.

Also in Paris, LA studio PlayLab recently completed a "scenically sculpted" Sacré-Cœur skatepark to resemble stone.

The photography is by Fred Mortagne.

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