Fabrica 22 – Lisbon, Portugal

I think of Love and Dedication in several areas of life and I can surely identify these two feelings whenever I see them. This struck me again recently when I saw a raw space, dirty, wet and ugly, turn into an awesome indoor skateable area made with that Love and Dedication I mentioned earlier. The hours, bruises and exhaustion all paid off after seeing the final piece. Skateboarding needs more transformation, more love, more DIY and more dedication just for the sake of skateboarding per se and not for the sake of money, visibility or notoriety. Skateboarding needs more common goals, more unity and especially more humility. In this project I found people who listened, people who shared, people who worked hard and people who were not satisfied until they achieved their final goal but also always with close attention to the path that led them there. If Skateboarding can be defined, and I’m sure it can by multiple definitions of what we feel is Skateboarding, this project was sure Skateboarding. Without the Love and Dedication of João Sales and Nuno Cainço, this place would still be an empty warehouse begging to be occupied. I’m glad it was occupied by Skateboarding, as well as with Love and Dedication, ingredients of everyday life under all circumstances. So, to me, if it’s not DIY it’s not Skateboarding, if it’s not Skateboarding it’s not DIY. See you in the trenches.

Words: Bruno “Break” Teixeira
Photos: João Sales

The beginning...

The beginning…

skeleton

Cutting the coping

Cutting the coping

Street course room

Street course room

Cigarette break.

Cigarette break.

bowl

Hurricane.

Remy Taveira. Hurricane. Photo: João Sales

Javier Mendizabal. Ollie over the hip.  Photo: João Sales.

Javier Mendizabal. Ollie over the hip. Photo: João Sales.

Croyde. 5-0 grind.  Photo: João Sales

Croyde. 5-0 grind. Photo: João Sales

João Sales. Stlying out a smith grind on his own creation.

João Sales. Stlying out a smith grind on his own creation. Photo: Joao Mascarenhas