La Iglesia Skate - A Church Turned Indoor Skate Park

100-Year-Old Abandoned Church Gets Transformed into Awesome-Looking Skate Park

By Sumitra on December 17th, 2015 Category: Art

The 100-year-old church of Santa Barbara, in Llanera, the Spanish principality of Asturias, had been abandoned for over half a century, before a group of skating enthusiasts decided to turn the old place of worship into a unique indoor skate park called Kaos Temple. Today, it is probably the most stunning community skating venue in the world.

The church was originally a private one, designed by Austrian architect Manuel del Busto for a few local businessmen in 1912. But they abandoned the area in the 1930s during the Civil War, and the church remained unused for several decades until it was purchased by a group of individuals called the Church Brigade, in the late 2000s.

After some brainstorming, the group decided that the indoor space was perfect to install a skating ramp in. And that’s exactly what they did, slowly gathering funds and getting help from friends whenever they could. In 2012, ‘Kaos Temple’ opened its doors to skating enthusiasts.

Photo: La Iglesia Skate

The place wasn’t in top condition though, given how old the building is – so this year, the Church Brigade decided to run an online fundraising campaign through Spanish crowdfunding website Verkami. They ended up raising €24,514, more than enough to get work started on the interiors.

Photo: Red Bull Media

Using those funds, and with a little help from their official sponsor Red Bull, the Church Brigade commissioned artist Okuda San Miguel to transform the interiors, filling it with bright colors befitting a skate park for youngsters. He covered nearly every inch of the walls and the vaulted ceilings with vivid geometric figures that are illuminated by natural light coming in from the tall windows fitted with colorful glasswork.

Photo: Red Bull Media

According to the Verkami page, ‘Kaos Temple’ is a reinterpretation of the church with included artistic and cultural references of this generation. “His (Okuda’s) iconic piece Kaos Star represents a colorful and isometric rose of the winds that tries to tell us that it does not matter where you are, or what you are doing, what matters are your own goals,” the page states. “He was totally inspired by the space, and made him think of it as a ‘Kaos Temple’.