Parkour and the city: the role of human mobility in place-making


Otchie, Michael Parkour and the city: the role of human mobility in place-making. Doctor of Philosophy thesis, University of Liverpool.

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Abstract

The intention of this thesis is to frame the emerging discipline of parkour into the context of architectural research. The thesis takes into consideration a range of research methods including interviews, literature and film reviews, and filmmaking exercises. The subject of the documentary films produced for this study, are a series of tours of the city of Liverpool that are carried out by practitioners of parkour, so-called traceurs, and university architecture students. By using these tours of Liverpool as case studies, the research project provides a novel approach to understanding the multi-sensory qualities of urban spaces, and builds upon practices found within the emerging field of sensory-ethnography. These tours are used as a means to gather qualitative data that extends beyond verbal responses, as physical interactions between individuals and their surroundings are documented and analysed. The use of filmmaking techniques within this piece of research allows for it to build upon pre-existing practices found within the culture associated with parkour. By examining video filmmaking as a tool for documenting the relationship between traceurs and city spaces, this research study makes reference to the growth of the parkour movement via Internet based social networks and the proliferation of digital videos. The thesis concludes with a novel approach for understanding traceurs as an architectural figure, akin to the concept of the flâneur, which has significance for the interrogating multiple layers of meaning within contemporary urban space. The study also provides support for critically examining the development of subject knowledge and epistemological knowledge in relation to architecture and the body.

Item Type: Thesis (Doctor of Philosophy)
Additional Information: Date: 2013-05 (completed)
Subjects: ?? NA ??
Divisions: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of the Arts
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 01 Aug 2014 10:15
Last Modified: 16 Dec 2022 04:39
DOI: 10.17638/00013235
Supervisors:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/13235
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