caspar bhalerao

PARKOUR MAPPING

As part of my dissertation, Parkour, Play and the Neoliberal City, I produced a mapping of play during my fieldwork. The main text explores how parkour can be understood as a form of urban play, and is a lens through which we can understand the ludic city. Ultimately arguing that we should have ‘play-able’ public space in order to reconnect with the spaces we inhabit. This mapping was conducted at Cheffins a regular ‘spot’ for the traceurs (parkour practitioners) I spoke to. It begun with preliminary sketches tracing the path of a traceur named Indi, plotting moments where they performed a ‘move.’ This mapping was done in two intervals, each ten minutes long, separated by a short water break and combined in a single diagram. This process of overlaying creates a nexus of actions which describe the patina of movement and the act of poiesis (creation of new space). This mapping also shows how the traceur loosens the public realm by transgressing across boundaries and enacting play.