“Temple of Basketball”: the most unusual space for practice

“Temple of Basketball”: the most unusual space for practice

The Church of the Epiphany, built in Chicago in 1885, turned into a world-class basketball court.

The authorities of Chicago in 2017 decided to convert unused premises of historical buildings into spaces for exhibitions and creative events. So Nike had the idea to create a large basketball court inside one of the inactive churches – with a playing field, locker rooms and a gym.

The goal of this project was to attract young people to basketball. The renovated church already organizes training sessions for girls and boys aged 7 to 17 during the working week, and on weekends the house of God is open to regular parishioners, the main thing is to sign up for training on the official website in advance.

Having changed the interior decoration of the church beyond recognition, the architects did not touch the exterior facade at all. And the building still continues to delight visitors with its medieval Empire-style design. As for the internal changes, instead of the usual benches in the very center of the cathedral there was a large basketball court, and stained glass windows with religious subjects were replaced by patterned glass drawings of a basketball.

This August, the church was given new life. It is now a space for interactive workshops, professional performances and training sessions. The first open workshop for schoolchildren was conducted by Scottie Pippen, a legendary Chicago Bulls player who played with Michael Jordan for many years.

Chicago is known for its great love of basketball culture, so the “Temple of Basketball” appeared there. It was born to become an iconic place for boys and girls who dream of moving like Jordan and scoring like LeBron.