Buildering: barely even a thing

Abstract

Often frivolous and whimsical, urban climbing has a rich history. Contrary to popular assumption, the phenomenon is neither an offshoot of parkour nor a by-product of the recent trend of rooftop exploration and its resultant photography. Whilst it overlaps extensively, urban climbing has its own characteristics, community and style.
Contemporary exponents often use the term buildering, a portmanteau of 'buildings' and 'bouldering', the latter being a discipline of climbing that focuses on short, difficult ascents that require powerful moves. Many sports and activities are esoteric and autotelic, and bouldering is perhaps the apogee of climbing's absurdity given that the majority of ascents can be achieved by simply walking up the other side of a boulder rather than seeking out a series of nooks and crannies in which to wedge fingers and toes and repeatedly rub chalk.
Buildering takes this esotericism even further. Given its niche appeal and scarcity of practitioners, it is typically an informal, ephemeral, sometimes inadvertently subversive, unstructured activity. Unlike parkour, climbing, or other urban social formations such as skateboarding, it is barely even a “thing”.