you can now skate on a custom mini ramp inside london's design museum

bespoke skate ramp arrives at london’s Design Museum

From October 2023 to June 2024, London’s Design Museum hosts the Skateboard exhibition, where visitors can skate on a bespoke 3.5-foot mini ramp. Designed by curator Jonathan Olivares in collaboration with European company Betongpark, the exhibit complements the displayed collection of skateboards and memorabilia, providing an immersive experience while educating guests about the seven-decade history of board design.

image courtesy of James Griffiths, Converse

Interactive skateboarding experience at the design museum

Exhibition ticket holders with skateboarding experience have the unique opportunity to reserve a free slot and skate on the ramp during their visit, becoming part of this interactive experience at the Design Museum (find more here). For those who aren’t skateboard enthusiasts, witnessing live skateboarding during their visit offers a tangible and authentic perspective on the history of skateboard design.

When not in use for skateboarding, visitors can explore the ramp to immerse themselves in the design culture of skateboarding. They are invited to relax on the ramp and watch a specially commissioned movie featuring Converse CONS Riders Diggs English and newly crowned world champion Gavin Bottger. English and Bottger were the pioneering skaters who inaugurated the ramp and shot the film Cereal, which will be shown throughout the duration of the exhibition.

image courtesy of James Griffiths, Converse

Honoring Skateboard Culture Through Mini Ramps and Films

Mini-ramps stand as iconic, skateable structures, originally conceived by skateboarders themselves. With their straightforward design and resilient, slick surface, they have remained popular since their inception five decades ago. The new mini-ramp and accompanying film both pay tribute to the extensive legacy of do-it-yourself skate videography and its evolving influence on skateboarding performance. In the SKATEBOARD exhibition, this pairing offers a special acknowledgment of trick-based films like Cheese and Crackers (2006) and Tea and Biscuits (2020), both featured in the exhibition, which creatively incorporate objects not typically associated with skateboarding.

‘We are really pleased to be unveiling the newest skateable ramp in London, and what we think might be the first mini-ramp the public can skate on inside any major UK museum. This is a really dynamic and important part of our skateboard show as it speaks to the ways in which skaters have long repurposed aspects of the built environment, and poetically reinterpreted the function they were designed for,’ shares Tim Marlow, Director and CEO of the Design Museum. ‘With the global skate community today reaching 85 million, and with the sport’s inclusion in Paris 2024 likely to push that number even higher, now is the perfect time to be hosting this exhibition at the world’s leading museum for contemporary design. This is a story of design, performance and communities evolving together.’

image courtesy of James Griffiths, Converse