Skateboards are not complicated design objects. They consist of little more than a simple deck, usually made of wood, which forms the riding surface. The board is completed by a pair of trucks (pivoted metal turning devices) and four polyurethane wheels.
With a few rare exceptions, none of this involves particularly advanced design, fabrication, materials, technology or aesthetics. So why has the Design Museum – London’s prestigious venue for the celebration of contemporary design – decided to mount Skateboard, a substantial exhibition devoted to this simple creation?
Skateboarding first emerged in the late 1950s in the US, particularly in California and Florida’s beachside cities. The early pioneers were surfers who used devised skateboards from roller-skates to emulate surfing on asphalt roads and pavements. In the 1970s, their successors enjoyed the benefits of polyurethane wheels and wider boards to explore drained swimming pools, reservoirs, ditches and even new purpose-built skateparks.
