Disused church becomes rainbow-coloured indoor skatepark
Disused church becomes rainbow-coloured indoor skatepark
A CHURCH in Asturias has been painted in rainbow colours and turned into a skateboarding park.
The 103-year-old Santa Bárbara church in Llanera, near Oviedo has been disused since the end of the civil war when the neighbouring weapons factory shut down and its workers stopped going there for worship, and has been gradually crumbling to rack and ruin.
A local man, Ernesto Fernández Rey, considered acquiring the attractive Romanesque-style church to turn into a business, but decided this would not be viable in light of the economic crisis – but he and his friends, all keen skateboarders, clubbed together to raise money to build a ramp inside where they could practise when it rained.
“I wanted to set up a property services business, but instead I started the association Brigada Iglesia ['Church Brigade'] and we created the Kaos Temple,” says Fernández Rey.
An indoor skatepark turned out to be a godsend – literally, in this case – since it rains in Asturias for over six-and-a-half months of the year.
Gradually, the skatepark grew in size within the confines of the church.
Famous Madrid-born street artist Okuda San Miguel found a photo of it online, contacted the association and asked if he could decorate it.
His own crowdfunding campaign raised the cash needed, and he approached companies to seek sponsorship.
Red Bull agreed to get on board, and Okuda set about transforming a building he said he 'fell in love with' on sight.
Now, five years on from the first ramp being installed, the brand-new rainbow-coloured has been unveiled.
Faithful to Okuda San Miguel's trademark style, the geometrical kaleidoscope and multi-coloured optical illusions cover walls and ceilings, with faces and trees blended in a psychedelic cubist pattern.
Okuda says most of his commissions are abroad, but that the painted church is 'very special' to him because it is 'on his territory', being only an hour by car from his parents' home.
The Kaos Temple even includes sofas and coffee tables for skaters to take a break in between stunts.
