The context

In the search to find a training ground where they can practice their pastime, skaters adapt the city to their needs, carrying-out a kind of tourism in their own cities. Guided by unusual criteria (the presence of sidewalks, handrails, stairs), skaters take over in a positiv manner territories of the city. 

The commission

A book about the culture and practice of skateboarding

The book supports the possibility of granting skaters their place in the urban environment. It suggests the creation of specialized equipment created by, and for, skateboarders. It envisions a place reserved for their use, but also open to the city, as a kind of demonstration and recognition.

The creation of an indoor "palace for urban sliding" is a dream for many skaters. Marseille's love for street sports, its abundance of community associations and the current reorganization of the urban structure, makes it the ideal place for the building of specialized equipment for skateboarders. Roule ma ville is a prepatory study that hopes to convince political decision-makers.

Hervé Paraponaris

Hervé Paraponaris was born in 1966 in Marseille. He lives and works in Marseille. Describing himself as a citizen first and then as an artist, Hervé Paraponaris develops projects that tend to leave the art world and take on economic, political and cultural contexts. In 2003, Paraponaris and Etienne Laude created the Union for the advancement of wheeled-sports. this cooperative company sells skateboards under the brand name SyNDrom and designs spaces for the practice of wheeled-sports.