How can public spaces be designed to integrate parkour features while balancing community needs and architectural aesthetics?

Colin MacDonald discusses his experience designing parkour parks, and what he’s learned from the process. He shares thoughts on his creative process and inspirations before explaining more about Landscape Architecture and the program he is in. Colin unpacks some of his personal design and build dreams, along with the realities that affect them, and explores the connection between sculpture and parkour design.

“I think that a well-designed parkour park—compared to something like a well-designed skate park—has the potential to serve a lot of populations.” ~ Colin MacDonald (11:05)

Colin McDonald leaps into the creative and logistical aspects of designing parkour parks, exploring their potential to serve communities beyond the parkour practitioners themselves. He reflects on projects like Rose Park in Boise and Penzer Park in Langley, highlighting the balance between making a space inviting for movement and considering broader urban challenges. Colin also discusses the aesthetic and functional aspects of his work, emphasizing the importance of materiality and community integration.

Colin explores his influences, from urban sculptures to conversations with other parkour architects like Mikkel Rugaard. His interest in creating multi-use spaces reflects his vision for inclusivity and accessibility in public design. Beyond this, Colin shares insights on evolving parkour spaces from purely functional sites to places that are inspiring and aesthetically pleasing, contributing to a more dynamic urban environment.

Takeaways

Integrating parkour into public spaces — Colin emphasizes the balance between creating functional parkour features and ensuring spaces are welcoming to all.

Materiality in design — He reflects on the tactile and aesthetic importance of materials like wood and metal.

Community impact — Colin considers how spaces influence community behavior and activate underutilized areas.

Influence of public sculpture — He draws inspiration from large-scale public sculptures for parkour park designs.

Evolving creative process — Colin shares how conversations and collaborations have shaped his approach to designing movement spaces.

Resources

Parkour Visions — A non-profit organization focused on creating parkour parks and educational programs.

Street Movement — A design firm known for innovative parkour park concepts.

TraceSpace — A German firm creating distinctive parkour spaces using mixed materials like brick and timber.

(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)

---

— Hello👋 I’m Craig Constantine.

In the Movers Mindset podcast, I talk with movement enthusiasts to learn who they are, what they do, and why they do it. I’m interested in the nature and philosophy of movement and in exploring themes like independence, self-direction, and human excellence. My interests color each conversation and provide some structure to Movers Mindset. But since I like to take the scenic route, every conversation ends up going somewhere unique.

The purpose of Movers Mindset is to create and share great conversations with movement enthusiasts. Each conversation feeds my insatiable curiosity, but I share them to turn on a light for someone else, to inspire them, or to give them their next question.

I appreciate your time and attention, and I don’t take it for granted.

— Thank you!

My personal mission is creating better conversations to spread understanding and compassion. And Movers Mindset is one of the things I do in service of my mission. Drop by https://craigconstantine.com/ for my weekly email, my other podcasts, writing and more.

The Movers Mindset project grew from conversations I started having as part of my personal journey rediscovering movement. The project started late in 2015, and it was initially simply a web site that shared others’ writing. The project grew, and in 2017 I started the podcast. I’ve worked extremely hard, but none of this would have been possible without so much help from so many people.

Thanks for listening!

ɕ