Inside San Francisco's 'Hack Temple,' a church where technology is a religion
"If I were to start a religion, I'd start The Church Of Hacktism," Cherkashin wrote in a playful essay in January.
The Hack Temple is an event center and startup accelerator located in San Francisco.
Last November, GVA Capital bought the former Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, built in 1912, for $7 million. For nearly 80 years, it served as a place of worship for Spanish-speaking immigrants.
The church closed in 1991 after membership declined, and it became an English school for Chinese-speaking children.
Community has always been at the core. Cherkashin hopes to carry on the building's tradition of bringing diverse groups of people together.
"San Francisco has always been the center of free thinking and innovation in our country," Cherkashin told Business Insider in November. "This is the perfect place for people from all over the world to come and share their vision for the future."
In March, Daybreaker, an event series featuring drug-free, device-free morning raves around the world, turned the church into a club for its first-ever evening dance party.
The "Twerk du Soleil" themed rave included dancing, yoga, acrobatic performances, and free beverage and snack giveaways.
Renovations are ongoing, but these renderings give a glimpse of the future of the space. A large hall fits hundreds of people comfortably for listening to someone speak or present an idea.
Communal workspaces provide an intimate place to hold a meeting with a mentor or zone in on coding.
Hack Temple is home to one of the oldest organs in the US. A neon sign that includes a line of HTML coding hangs just below it.
Cherkashin said the firm plans to restore the building closer to its original aesthetic. "If the original architect were to see it now, he'd be proud," Cherkashin said.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Church received designation as a historical landmark, so the exterior cannot be altered. But the interior is fair game.
The $7 million real-estate grab was a surprising move by GVA Capital. "To be successful, investors have to build a reputation by doing something valuable for the community and business ecosystem," Cherkashin said.
The church will be fully operational by summer 2017.
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