PlayLab designs Checkered Future skate park next to the Sacré-Cœur Basilica

LA-based studio PlayLab and construction company California Skateparks have designed Checkered Future, a temporary skate bowl for the Sacré-Cœur in Paris for footwear brand Vans.

The two-part installation extends over the hill of Montmartre, where the Sacré Cœur is located, and consists of a large skate bowl at the bottom of a staircase and a chessboard DJ platform.

PlayLab and California Skateparks built the installation from wood and foam that looks like stone, while the bowl is made of concrete.

“The installation is constructed from a combination of wood and foam that have been scenically sculpted and painted to resemble the stone that was once quarried from the site,” PlayLab co-founder Jeff Franklin told Dezeen.

“The bowl is concrete and ideal for skating,” Franklin added.

“We wanted these elements to have a visual weight that could hold their own in the shadow of the amazing basilica above.”

Created for OTW by Vans, the brand’s “dedicated space to push the boundaries,” Checkered Future follows a ramp designed by PlayLab last year that was made of plexiglass and referenced the nearby Louvre Museum.

It was ready in time to host live skating and music performances for Go Skateboarding Day and Fête de la Musique, France’s annual music day, which took place on June 21.

This year’s design is inspired by the surrounding area, with the Sacre Cœur Basilica made of stone in the same color.

“The overall inspiration for the bowl was to be treated as an ongoing construction of a new monument, combining the natural beauty of the basilica into an innovative skateable structure,” OTW of Vans creative director Ako Jefferson told Dezeen.

“Working with California Skateparks and Playlab, we designed a structure that nods to our Checkered Past, while reinterpreting it through a modern lens of a Checkered Future, a nod to Vans’ commitment to always moving forward.”

After the event ends, California Skateparks will “remove pieces from the structures and use them for a future installation,” Vans said.

Elsewhere, PlayLab recently created a ‘surreal’ pyramid-shaped skate park for LA arts week, also in collaboration with Vans.