Tas Careaga is a graphic designer and artist who independently transformed an old baroque church from the 16th century in Bilbao to create his new home. In addition to the modern design, it also preserved the sacral part.
Eduardo Estanislao González-Careaga of Venezuela, artistically known as That Careaga, is a graphic designer, programmer, photographer, painter, interior designer and skateboarder who has turned an old baroque church in Bilbao, Spain into his new home and studio for his multimedia design agency TasLab.
Through many projects, the creative young artist has shown his knowledge, effort and drive, as well as his love to create "everything from nothing". His new exciting home is actually the old church of Santa Cruz on the outskirts of the Basque capital, built in the middle of the 16th century, which underwent a neoclassical transformation in the 18th century. With his own hands, he turned it into a real little architectural and design wonder.
Photo: tascareaga.com
Keeping the original frames and respecting the former appearance, he made a ground floor that extends over 120 square meters. He designed everything according to the concept of "open space", so only one wall separates the bathrooms and wine cellar from the rest of the house.
Above two-thirds of the house is a 10-meter-high ceiling, where the dining room and living room are the central part and the kitchen is in a semicircle - on the site of the former altar. This common area also has a large wood-burning fireplace.
The view escapes from the living room upwards towards the former choir, today glass-enclosed gallery, where, just like in the shop window, there is a separate bedroom, which is reached by a wooden staircase. On this floor there is a studio and two bathrooms. From the studio, you reach the belfry - a small "loft" where he initially placed his bed and books as a great place to sink into his favorite reading with a view of the green hills.
Mixing modern, rustic and vintage style with baroque sacral architecture as a whole has created a space that looks really impressive!
The artist's goal is to make his home a work of art for himself. His great-grandmother left him 150-year-old furniture, some of it is modern, and many of the pieces he designed and made himself. It's the same with art and paintings - some of it is his, some of it is from friends. But we also find a lot statues of Jesus, and there is even an old skateboard in the room, on which motifs of Jesus and saints are painted according to the example of sacral art from the 18th century.
From the living room, sliding glass doors lead to the courtyard. There is a terrace with a sunbathing area, a dog house, a wooden table and benches, a mini skate park and a barbecue area. Everything looks even more magical because it is surrounded by greenery and beautiful Basque nature.
