Skateboarding
Skateboarding
Pedro Barros skates the work of Oscar Niemeyer in Concrete Dreams
Murilo Peres and Pedro Barros get a once-in-a-lifetime pass to roll on the fabled curves of some undisputed masterpieces of modern architecture.
Oscar Niemeyer remains one of the most important architects in modern history. The Brazilian visionary, who died in 2012 aged 104, elevated modern architecture beyond the realms of function and created buildings that are works of art and express the highest attributes of humanity.
His work with reinforced concrete in particular created new architectural forms and possibilities, eschewing the tyranny of angles to create waves and swooping arches of such soaring beauty that they represent nothing less than physical poetry.
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Pedro Barros – Noseblunt Rag-In
© Rodrigo Kbca
Pedro Barros – Backside Nollie Flip
© Rodrigo Kbca
Angels
© Marcelo Maragni
Pedro Barros – Backside Ollie
© Marcelo Maragni
Obviously, that makes a lot of his buildings absolutely next-level banging to skate.
If only, if only…
Although Niemeyer worked internationally, his work is most associated with his beloved Brazil, particularly the capital city Brasilia, where his works dominate the skyline, and with which he is synonymous.
I am not attracted to straight angles or to the straight line, hard and inflexible, created by man. I am attracted to free-flowing, sensual curves
All Brazilian skaters are familiar with Niemeyer’s designs: many of the contours look like they must have been designed with skateability in mind. However, almost all of Niemeyer’s constructions are considered to be part of Brazilian national heritage and therefore off-limits, not just to skaters but to any non-pedestrian.
Rolling Thunder
© Rodrigo Kbca
Pedro Barros – Ollie
© Marcelo Maragni
Murilo Peres – Flip to Roll In
© Marcelo Maragni
Pedro Barros – Bertleman Slide
© Rodrigo Kbca
The result is Concrete Dreams, a never-to-be-repeated collaboration between the artist’s estate and Red Bull which allows us to savour the majestic forms of an unbridled architectural genius in the way only skateboarders can.
Revel in the world of Niemeyer through the eyes of Pedro Barros and Murilo Peres in Concrete Dreams at the top of the page.
