s a n d e r a r c h i t e c t s
The environment of Andre's Body Shop is shaped by the activity which takes place within it. ABS is a temple to exertion and the body, a forum dedicated to the purely physical burning of calories. One thing above all is of import here: the body and its attenuation.
The creation of the space, therefore, necessarily involves the abstraction of these anthropomorphic aspects in built/architectonic form.
Sinew finds allegory in the fibers of wood, bending and flexing like muscles in contraction.
The skeleton provides a model for form: thoracic rib cage enclosure translated into a series of light modulators. These are simple expanded metal mesh, an utterly economical material, bent, pulled taut and suspended above to refract and diffuse light.
A mural inscribed on a wall that twists through the space describes the dichotomy between man's physical and intellectual nature. The seven Buddhist chakras are on the left, with the second and fourth highlighted - these correspond to the solar plexus and the heart. On the right, twelve perfect sqaures are placed at a height that corresponds to the height of the human brain. Twelve is a supremely rational number, divisible by one, two, three, four, six and itself. It is a product of pure mind.
Total square footage: 3,000sf
