Twist & Shout (Winner Entry)

Rotterdam, Netherlands

Visualization © RKDS

Picture © RKDS

Visualization © RKDS

Architects: Romi Khosla Design Studios

Year: 2010

The design is as simple as a twisted strip of paper. The easy twists of the street furniture create a smooth and fluid curve. Spurting out of the ground, the wave stretches across the streetscape.

The design offers a set of 3 curves. The central curve is the highest with a height of 2 meters, surrounded by two smaller beginners’ curves on either side of a height of 1 meter each.

The curves have been thought to provide as much variation and challenge as possible to the skateboarder. The skateboarder can slide, slip, hop and jump on the wooden surfaces and he can also use the edge.

The smaller ones allow kids or beginners to enjoy skating as well.

Pedestrian can indulge themselves by lying on the curve surface or they can just sit at the extremity of the main wave on the bench.

The installation made out of a twisted metallic skeleton is covered by recycled and reused wood salvaged from demolished buildings and/or fast regenerating wood.

The structure is imagined as a metal framework on which wooden pieces are fastened, allowing it to be a light and easily transportable object. Therefore the structure can be “plugged in” anywhere in the city so skateboarders and pedestrians can enjoy a wide range of landscapes while skating and walking through Rotterdam.