Surely a contender for the title of ‘World’s Most Beautiful Skatepark,’ this stunning urban park project by Constructo Skatepark Architecture incorporates design elements abstracted from an adjacent 17th-century fortress. Set in Luxembourg’s Peitruss Valley at the foot of the old Vauban fortification that encircles the old city, the Luxembourg City Skatepark pays tribute to the region’s heritage while creating an awesome gathering spot for locals.

Measuring nearly 30,000 square feet, the skatepark adds a series of ramps, bowls, stairs and a plaza to a popular green space full of pathways, playgrounds, picnic areas and other recreational hotspots.

Luxembourg publication Delano reports that on its opening day, the skatepark could almost have been mistaken for Venice Beach. Professional athletes swooped in to demonstrate their skateboard, BMX and scooter skills in front of a crowd of local skaters and other residents. The park is designed for use in a variety of sports at all ages and skill levels, including kids. It’s the only skatepark of its size in the country (which is one of Europe’s smallest at 999 square miles.)

Expanded under the renowned commander and military engineer Sebastien Le Prestre de Vauban between 1684 and 1688, the fortress was once one of Europe’s most impressive fortifications. Today, much of the original fortress is long gone, but its remains are a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. Peitruss Valley sits at the base of the fortress (pictured above), acting as a natural border between the Old Town and the New Town.

A 100-year-old church in Spain is hosting pilgrimages of a new sort now that its interior is lined with skate ramps instead of pews, its soaring cathedral ceilings covered in vibrant murals. This stunning mashup of art and sport is known as Kaos Temple, a collaboration between La Iglesia Skate, Red Bull and street artist Okuda San Miguel. Located in the city of Ilanera, this stunning converted space has instantly earned its place among the most creative skate parks in the world.

Okuda transformed the walls and vaulted ceilings with rainbow-hued geometric paintings, while the skate collective built customized ramps running the width of the interior. The columns, ribs and other architectural elements of the space remain as they were before the project began, crumbling in some areas, their lack of polish contrasting with the bright new paint.

Spectators and fellow skaters convene on comfortable couches in the living-room-like lounge that formerly functioned as the pulpit.  The artist describes the project as being part of a ‘cultural upheaval’ that will “bring a new era to the spaces for art,” i.e. out of galleries and into common public spaces that everyone can enjoy. Okuda also produced a series of customized skateboards as rewards for the donors who helped crowd fund the project.

Glide you way through a multi-story dedicated skate park, a glow-in-the-dark bowl, an old subway tunnel under London, a floating ramp on Lake Tahoe or even a ramp that goes right off the edge of the Grand Canyon. These 12 skate parks and ramps, from California to Dubai, offer some of the world’s most amazing places to practice your tricks – places that are legal, anyway.

World’s First Multi-Story Skate Park

Many a skater has eyeballed the surfaces of a spiraling parking garage and wished they were curvier. Soon, a quiet seaside town in Britain will be home to the world’s first multi-story structure devoted to exactly this activity: the Folkestone Sports Park by architecture firm Guy Holloway. The world’s first facility of its kind, Folkestone will feature three entire floors for skaters as well as a climbing wall, underground boxing ring, cafe, training room, youth room and first aid center.

Skate Park Doubles as a Working Sundial

You don’t have to glance at a watch or phone to figure out what time it is when you’re skating at this park in Lugano, Switzerland. Brightly painted markings on the concrete of the bowl will tell you according to the sun and shadows. Designed by Moscow group Zuk Club, this park is one big rainbow-hued sun dial.

Abandoned Tunnel Turned Subterranean Skate Park

London’s famous Old Vic Tunnels under the Waterloo Station are home to the city’s first subterranean skate park, a cultural complex taking up 32,000 square feet. House of Vans offers a pool-style bowl, street section and mini ramp as well as a music venue, bar, theater, cafe, artist studios and gallery space.

Sink or Skate: Floating Ramp Design

This sculptural wooden ramp took up residence right on the surface of sparkling Lake Tahoe as a promo for the California tourism industry. Built by skateboarding pro Bob Burnquist with the assistance of art director Jerry Blohm, the structure features a half pipe, quarter pipe and 45-degree ramp and weighs an amazing 7,300 pounds. Bob had a wet-suited snorkeler waiting in the waters nearby to retrieve his board anytime it went over the edge.

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Flip For This 12 Crazy And Creative Skate Ramps Parks

Skaters at this park in Lugano, Switzerland don’t have to pull out their phones to check the time – they can just glance down at a series of colored lines painted right onto the concrete of the bowl as a modern sundial. A ribbon of rainbow hues curves up and down the undulating surface, the sun and shadows revealing the current hour.

A different line of color indicates each hour of the day, marked off as the sun passes overhead. Designed by Moscow group Zuk Club, the vibrant park is like an abstract modern mural customized specifically to the shape of the bowl and the surrounding area.

It’s an interesting and visually resting concept, though perhaps no match for the largest and most complex skate parks around the world. Skaters who find ordinary skate parks unimaginative should check out 13 examples of highly skateable architecture, ranging from the specially renovated interior of a hunting lodge to Zaha Hadid’s futuristic science center in Germany.

It’s not just a skate park, it’s an architectural landmark. Factoria Joven (“youth factory”) is a skate park and climbing wall in Merida, Spain, which opened in  March 2011. Its bright, modern geometric design was inspired by the construction methods used to create Chinese dragons.

Architects José Selgas and Lucía Cano of SelgasCano Studio took on the challenge of creating an urban gathering space for young people which could be constructed of inexpensive building materials.

Made largely of vivid, lightweight polycarbonate and completed in just 13 months, Factoria Joven has quickly become everything the project collaborators wished for, bustling with athletic activity day and night.

In addition to a large climbing wall and space for biking and skating, Factoria Joven includes a computer lab and dance studio, meeting rooms and spaces for street theater, video, electronic music and graffiti.