Skate in a gallery 

In the middle of the exhibition ‘With One Eye Open’ a mini ramp has been built! Skaters and skateboarders are invited to use it! 

This skate ramp forms the core of 'Cloud Cuckoo Land', a research experiment by studio mo man tai, where skate culture and urban design come together. During Dutch Design Week 2024, skaters are invited to contribute ideas to transform Eindhoven into a skateboarding paradise. 

Imagine this: Eindhoven, a city where skaters are not only the users of urban space, but also the designers. What would happen if skaters were truly involved in the creative process of urban planning? The answer can be found in ‘Cloud Cuckoo Land’, an experiment during Dutch Design Week 2024. 

Skating is often seen as a counterculture, a world where freedom, creativity and rebellion come together. Skaters used to be seen as the ‘lice in the fur’ of architects and urban planners, always looking for a place to do their thing, often to the annoyance of the establishment.  

But what if we harnessed the ‘creative minds’ of skaters and saw them as pioneers in urban planning and design? ‘Cloud Cuckoo Land’ highlights the value of skateboarders as designers of their own spaces, with a special focus on Eindhoven's role as a design city. 

As the city of design and technology, Eindhoven provides the ideal starting point for this co-creation, showing how skateboarders bring their unique perspectives and creative solutions to the design of public spaces. While affirming the city's reputation as a centre of progressive design, ‘Cloud Cuckoo Land’ emphasises the need to put the experience and vision of the skaters themselves at the centre. In the design process, studio mo man tai aims to provide a platform for skaters' work and underlines how important it is to value their input. In ‘Cloud Cuckoo Land’, we want to visualise a utopian city where anything goes. A place where skate culture and urban design come together in harmonious symbiosis.   

Are you a skater and would you like to give us your input? 

Bring your inspiration, sketches, photos and designs to the Penning Foundation and use them to complement our exhibition during Dutch Design Week, October 19-27, 2024. Take part and leave your mark on the city of the future. 

‘Cloud Cuckoo Land during Dutch Design Week 2024’ is a project by studio mo man tai – www.momantai-design.com @studio.mo.man.tai 

By studio mo man tai invited skaters/designers/artists:  

Steffie Padmos - https://www.steffiepadmos.com/ @steffiepadmos_illustrator 

Jonas Sars – @jonas_sars Movies/photos/skateboarding/animation 

Supporting partners: 

100% Skateshop Eindhoven @100procentskateshop www.100procentskateshop.nl  

BIG impact supersize printing www.bigimpact.com  

Koninklijke Nederlandse textielfabrieken – Raymakers www.raymakers.com @raymakerstextiel 

ShowUP / Trade Show for Home and Gift www.showup.nl @showupevent 

Pennings Foundation www.penningsfoundation.com @penningsfoundation