Kadia Bah
The site was a former massage therapy studio situated along locally owned shops in Grand Lake, Oakland, CA. The concept emerged from the histories of the space and its context by imagining a space that celebrates its past and embraces its future. Through meaningful dialogue between the site’s history and its future use, a process of subtraction and addition was developed.
The design thoughtfully kept architectural artifacts from its previous program and years of use. The remainder of the studs was abstracted commemorating the former rooms, keeping spatial stability and reused as display fixtures. The addition of curtains converse to the site through softness allowing spatial ephemerality and flux, giving its users the agency to express their imagination to create a range of configurations and function. Through the minimal intervention, the design gesture creates a memorable spatial experience by creating alternative dimensions, a space within a space, responding to our contemporary way of life.