Courtesy of Red Bull Media Service Team
Brazilian pair given permission to skate some of Niemeyer’s iconic architecture.
Oscar Niemeyer is generally regarded as Brazil’s greatest ever architect, designing iconic buildings in his native Brazil and abroad.
And as a tribute to his stunning creations, Pedro Barros and Murilo Peres were given a one-off access-all-areas pass to skate his architectural designs ranging from the National Congress Palace in Brasilia to the Contemporary Art Museum in Niterói. Here is all you need to know:
– ‘Concrete Dreams’ shoots the Brazilian duo as they realise a lifelong dream to skateboard in locations where it had never been deemed previously possible.
– They take skateboarding where it’s never been before: jumping across buildings at Belo Horizonte’s administrative city or racing down ramps akin to a colourful waterslide at the Contemporary Art Museum.
– The skate duo studied over architectural drawings beforehand to ascertain what might be achievable on buildings that lend itself so well to their sporting passions and livelihoods.
– Barros and Peres were given permission by the Oscar Niemeyer Foundation, the result of which is a series of visually stunning shots on some buildings created before the sport even existed.
– Explaining that decision, Carlos Ricardo Niemeyer, executive superintendent of the foundation, explained: “The proposal from the beginning seemed to us an incredible idea. There is a strong identity between the universe of this sport and Niemeyer’s architecture and its values. Irreverence, freedom, the search for challenges, creativity in movement, all of this is in the essence of skateboarding as well as in Niemeyer’s work, made of free, beautiful and surprising curves.”
– The irony of skating at buildings where it is normally illegal is not lost on Barros, who said: “We’re skating in memorials, skating in things where we never thought skating would be allowed. Security guards were here letting us skateboard and smiling with that and being happy. That was pretty insane to see.”
– For Barros, it began as a childhood ambition. He said: “I always dreamed of skating on those skateparks that weren’t made to skate, but made 60 years ago. It’s insane. I’m thinking about how important this project can be for skateboarding.”
– Barros won his first professional title at the age of 12, adding an X Games gold to his trophy cabinet three years later. He is the current world champion of his sport.
– Peres, the youngest of four brothers, was a hyperactive child when introduced to the sport of skateboarding aged 10. He is the current national champion in his sport.
Read the original story in Portuguese on Red Bull dotcom HERE.