29May EUROPE SKATE: SAVING THE SOUTHBANK – 40 YEARS OF HISTORY Categories: Press Comments Off on EUROPE SKATE: SAVING THE SOUTHBANK – 40 YEARS OF HISTORY The South Bank Centre in London is world famous for theatre, exhibitions and concerts. The Royal Festival Hall, the biggest of the three buildings that make up the centre, dominates the south side of the River Thames opposite Charing Cross train station on the north side, with the Queen Elizabeth Hall next to it and the Hayward Gallery behind. But the South bank is also famous for something else, something its designers never dreamed of when the centre was created way back in the 1960s…
20May BBC: THE SECRET COLONIES OF GRAFFITI ARTISTS AND SKATEBOARDERS Categories: Press Comments: 1 There’s a furore around a graffiti-festooned, skater hangout under threat on London’s Southbank. These graffiti and skating “colonies” are all over the UK. Saunter past the Southbank Centre on a Saturday, and there’s always a buzz at the “undercroft”…
17May GQ: SAVILE ROW TAILOR, SOUTHBANK SKATER: HUNTMAN’S CHRIS BULL ON HIS LIFE OF BESPOKE AND BOARDSLIDES Categories: Press Comments Off on GQ: SAVILE ROW TAILOR, SOUTHBANK SKATER: HUNTMAN’S CHRIS BULL ON HIS LIFE OF BESPOKE AND BOARDSLIDES Take a walk down Savile Row and you’re certain to see tourists gawking up at at the beautifully-dressed windows, at least three Jaguars and, of course, crowds of men in expertly tailored suits. What you don’t expect to see is a suitmaker speed past on a skateboard. However, stand outside Huntsman at about 9am on a weekday morning and you may catch Chris Bull…
16May FABIAN SOCIETY: WHERE WE WANT TO BE Categories: Press Comments Off on FABIAN SOCIETY: WHERE WE WANT TO BE They say that when you know you’re going to die, you don’t remember the deadlines or the car you had, you don’t wish you’d worked harder or saved more or eaten more fibre – you remember the kisses, the long sprawling days in the park with your friends, the people you loved and who loved you too. You remember…
16May THE STAGE: HERITAGE LOTTERY FUND REJECTS £10M SOUTHBANK CENTRE BID Categories: Press Comments Off on THE STAGE: HERITAGE LOTTERY FUND REJECTS £10M SOUTHBANK CENTRE BID The Southbank Centre has failed to secure more than £10 million towards its £120 million redevelopment project after the Heritage Lottery Fund rejected its bid. Plans to refurbish the venue’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery complex, known as the Festival Wing, were unveiled earlier this year…
15May FRANCE24: SKATEBOARDERS FIGHT TO SAVE FAMED LONDON SPOT Categories: Press Comments Off on FRANCE24: SKATEBOARDERS FIGHT TO SAVE FAMED LONDON SPOT Skateboarders soar out of the concrete bowl beneath London’s Southbank Centre, as they have done for the past 40 years, while spectators drink beer and hiphop beats stoke up the party atmosphere. But this is no party — it’s a protest. These knights of the pavement are jousting with authorities…
11May 40 Years Later – Long Live South Bank Categories: LLSB Video Tags: blondey, casper, history, LLSB, london, long live southbank, skate, skate southbank forever, skateboarding, the Undercroft Comments Off on 40 Years Later – Long Live South Bank A short informational film from the current generation of free minded individuals who call Southbank their home.
10May THE GUARDIAN: SKATEBOARDERS FORM VILLAGE GREEN PRESERVATION SOCIETY FOR SOUTHBANK Categories: Press Comments Off on THE GUARDIAN: SKATEBOARDERS FORM VILLAGE GREEN PRESERVATION SOCIETY FOR SOUTHBANK The soothing thwack of leather on willow seldom echoes around the brutal bulk of the Southbank Centre, nor, to be honest, are ponds, ancient taverns or ribbon-streamed maypoles much in evidence on this particular stretch of the Thames. Instead, the graffiti-washed walls resound with the rattling of tiny wheels, the frequent crack of wood…
10May CLASSICAL MUSIC MAGAZINE: SOUTHBANK REDEVELOPMENT HITS HERITAGE LOTTERY FUND SETBACK Categories: Press Comments Off on CLASSICAL MUSIC MAGAZINE: SOUTHBANK REDEVELOPMENT HITS HERITAGE LOTTERY FUND SETBACK The Southbank Centre has failed in a £10.2m bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for its recently announced plan to develop the area around the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery…
08May DAZED: SOUTHBANK’S LAST SKATE Categories: Press Comments Off on DAZED: SOUTHBANK’S LAST SKATE As you may have heard by now via extensive online discussion, the London Southbank Festival Wing is set for a £100 million redevelopment, and these plans include the taking over of the Undercroft, home since the 1970s to generations of skateboarders and more recently BMXers and graffiti artists. The area was once far bigger, reaching underneath the festival hall…