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Sk8Mag.de > People > Interview Erwin Rechsteiner Deutsch

Interview with Erwin Rechsteiner (Bowl Construction AG)

Bowl Construction is the baby of Erwin Rechsteiner and Ralf "Pogo" Vogt. They have their own completely new way of building skate parks in Europe. They want to do away with the monotonous way of manufacterers using prebuilt parts. Everone who has tested one of their parks is thrilled. Everone who hasn't is strongly urged to do so. Every park of Bowl Contruction is unique. Have fun!
The Interview was conducted by Chris Eggers via email from January till May 2004, the photos have been provided by Bowl with the exception of the photo of Erwin Rechsteiner and Ralf Vogt, which was shot by Bernhard Scheffold.

Who is Bowl Construction and how did everything begin?

Bowl is an incorporated company in Switzerland. We want to build more and good skate parks following a clearly formulated philosophy. The idea unfolded from several roots and occasions. I had been very frustrated what finally had become from my engagement for a skate park in my neighbor city. They built something bad for good money. It's an experience many people share and still make today. Apart from this I had the idea for innovative ramp construction for indoor skating. The bowl in Winterthur has been build in this way. I had a project contract for a skate hall at this time and the market just didn't offer anything sufficiently good. Being a pattern maker, machine engineer and fuss-pot I couldn't get my mind off the thing. A conversation with Ralf "Pogo" Vogt and Oli Thurau (O.T.) got the thing off the ground.

What were your motivations to found the company?

It soon became clear that we hadn't the money to get started. We needed plans, development, forms, prototypes and a patent registration. A lot of money for us. We looked for investors and found them. Then we founded the company in 1997 on Friday 13. The legal form of an incorporated company was the natural choice. Only in this way I could keep the voting right and at the same time satisfy the investors. Moreover, this legal form offers a maximum of security to the communes, because it is strictly regulated in Switzerland. Sounds a bit complicated, which in reality it is, but one gets used to it. It's not the worst. BTW: In the beginning we didn't want to build for communes and outdoor at all. We were absolutely sure that the bowl would be in such great demand that we would survive on it alone. History shows that everything developed quite differently.

When someone who understand a bit about skate parks looks at your parks, he is bound to notice that you so thing differently that the various manufacturers of pre-produced parts. Why?

That's surely connected to our skating and professional experience. The first sketches of O.T. and the many sketches of Pogo (which regrettably haven't all been carried out) surely were formative, too. That's one part of the story. On the other hand most of the time there isn't enough money. Therefore it takes a big effort, a lot of engagement and last not least a functional and convincing solution in order to convince important people of a city that they should spend five to ten times the money they originally planned for. But the price per area is always much lower for our solutions than for the conventional flat and simple skate areas. We are building parks! That's an essential difference.

However, the base of all our efforts and considerations stems from our philosophy. All our decisions follow our philosophy. But there are always a lot of constraints which have to be considered, wishes to be taken into account and compromises have to be made. Till today we could't really realize our vision, not even in Winterthur. The new park in Hard comes close, even though there are constraint and conditions even there.

Which conditions are you talking about? Has it abything to do with the depth of the bowls? Why don't people understand that the risk of injury is lower in a deep pool than in a shallow one? What's your vision of a perfect park and how much would it cost?

Oh, it isn't that bad. After all we already can point to the parks in the region of the Lake of Constance. But there is alway a shortage of space or of money. Rain water is causing big problems. It limits the depth or causes high cost. With regard to location we are seldom offered the best but only suitable places. We need a lot of persuasiceness and endurance in order to get something good in the end. Tuttlingen was perfect with regard to the location. There were hurdles with respect to pipelines and with respect to size, however. The new park in Hard is very close to our vision. Perfect location directly at the bank of the Lake of Constance, good infrastructure, ideal conditions for events and a very cooperative administration and a super tolerant council. They have approved some very courageous step, which can't be taken for granted. Originally they only wanted a mini ramp behind the tracks and now we create a park which will be in the Quiksilver Bowl Tour. It costs nearly € 300,000.00 and is worth a lot more than 400k. The conditions are very, very good. Normally you can't do such a big construction for this price.

Got you! You are evading my questions! Ok, it's not fair of me to ask so many at once … Alright, when will we see a really deep pool from Bowl? Is it difficult to explain to the communes that a deep bowl is less dangerous or why is everything being built so shallow?

It is difficult and we don't have a lot of support from the scene. A deep bowl or pool isn't a user request. Street skaters want the money being invested in obstacles. This is a fact and we somehow have to find a way to wet their appetite. Which we succeed in in more and more projects. In Hard (A), my dear Chris, your whishes will be realized at least rudimentary. Sadly there is a restriction due to the building permit, but I hope 2.6 m will be sufficient to you for the time being. Anyhow, we had the support of the locals in this case. Unfortunately the cost for a deep pool sky rocket very fast. Money is alway important. But this is also improving. Sadly a lot of money is still spend on pre-manufactured parts out of a catalog without the people in charge bothering. They just reduce the offering until the price fits within their budget. The authorities are often afraid that someone could fall down and get injured (someone would have to be drunk then). This argument therefore can be rebutted and it isn't the bottle-neck anyhow.

What's the future outlook for Bowl?

Rosy, I hope. You can view it in two fundamentally different ways. One is realistic and the other is my personal vision. The visionary view is that Bowl is operating world-wide with 30 people. We want to odder actice skaters the possibility to join profession and skating. This can't be a sanatorium for skate pros. The qualification has to be there. Attractice and individual working schedules should enable travelling and contest participation. We are very, very far from this. It really is a vision. But the realistic assessment of the situation is also OK for me. Till June there will be 15 of our parks and the reach of our project is starting to leave the region of the Lake of Constance. We are also gaining a foot-hold in Switzerland and in Austria. Our acceptance with the authorities is rising and the project don't have arbitrary cost limits any more. The parks are getting more ample and more interesting for good riders. People are starting to realize that usefulness and not building cost is the deciding factor. A skate park is not a single Euro more expensive than other building projects. With our approach to the projects the biggest part of the money stays in the region. In this way, politicians not only make a decision for a skate park but also stimulate the local economy.

Ok, thank you very much for the interview. In conclusion you can say anything you like, no matter what.

Thank you for this opportunity! To build a skate park alway means coordinating a big team effort (more than 50 people in the case of Ravensburg). Often one single skater is the local key player. His dedication and his fight (often for years) finally lead to success. I want to thank all those people in the name of all future riders for their dedication and for their endurance. We support this dedication in every way we can and to our part in convincing the authorities of the importance of building an integrated skate park. Thank you! And thanks to you, Chris, for the interview.