Rattan Offers a Meditative Focal Point in This Yoga Studio

The Vikasa Yoga Retreat on the Thai island of Ko Samui is known for its rustic aesthetic. However, when founder Kosta Miachin decided to open a studio in Bangkok, he sought a design that would blend the retreat's meditative qualities with the urban pulse of the city. The new facility, Vikasa on 24, located in the Sukhumvit neighborhood, occupies the second floor of a concrete, steel, and glass building originally intended as a showroom for luxury apartments. Miachin enlisted Australian architect Patrick Keane of Enter Projects Asia to create a non-traditional, immersive, and holistic space. Keane, a Princeton University School of Architecture graduate, has extensive experience in Thailand and a long-standing interest in rattan as a building material. To transform the conventional structure, Keane introduced a series of sinuous rattan tubes that weave through the interior, at times expanding overhead like clouds. He describes this intricate network of biomorphic pipes as a "material guide to the space," emphasizing its dynamic and almost sentient quality. These tubes connect different areas of the studio during the day, and at night, illuminated by LEDs, they become vibrant neural pathways, channeling energy and becoming visible from the street below. The design process involved high-tech digital tools such as Maya and Rhino, typically used in special effects and automotive manufacturing. Keane's team approached the space as a rigid container into which they could introduce a fluid material capable of assuming any shape. Inspired by the Klein bottle, a mind-bending geometric object resembling a 3D Möbius strip where the exterior turns inward, Keane aimed to create a design that reflects the introspective and transformative nature of yoga. The concept of an external surface becoming an interior resonates with the yogic journey of internal transformation manifesting externally. The rattan tubes commence as a bulbous, synapse-shaped lantern above the entry staircase, then traverse the reception area ceiling before descending to form a fluid front desk and bench. Two large yoga studios flank the reception area, each enveloped in a wood shell with a palm-leaf thatch exterior, evoking a sense of rural Thailand. Inside, rattan tubes loop and float overhead, reminiscent of Isamu Noguchi light sculptures. These tubes then extend through the walls, expanding dramatically to form bower-like wicker enclosures that serve as smaller, private yoga studios, skillfully mimicking the Klein bottle's self-enveloping form. Despite the advanced digital design, the materials used are deeply rooted in Thai craft traditions. The large yoga studios feature curved walls and ceilings clad in shiplap-style teak marine plywood, sourced from local boatbuilders. The locker rooms balance functionality with warmth, incorporating honed-slate flooring, gray cement walls, and custom teak benches handcrafted by Bangkok-based carpenter Ian Sykes. Keane noted the project effectively became a design-and-build endeavor, fostering a permanent team of artisans. Finding skilled craftspeople to execute the complex rattan designs proved challenging, particularly due to the prevalence of synthetic rattan. The project's realization was made possible by Supinya Colin, a French-Thai director of a company specializing in handmade, mostly synthetic, rattan furniture, who was willing to work with natural rattan. This collaboration enabled a multi-layered technological approach: complex forms designed on computers, translated into to-scale models, and finally brought to life by master craftsmen. Keane, with his Western CAD expertise, has integrated digital-age design with traditional materials and craftsmanship in Thailand, creating a project that fluidly connects past, present, and future, much like the continuous surface of a Klein bottle. #YogaStudioDesign #RattanArchitecture #BiomorphicDesign #InteriorDesignBangkok #SustainableMaterials #Craftsmanship #DigitalFabrication #MeditativeSpaces #EnterProjectsAsia #YogaStudioDesign #RattanArchitecture #BiomorphicDesign #InteriorDesignBangkok #SustainableMaterials #Craftsmanship #DigitalFabrication #MeditativeSpaces #EnterProjectsAsia

67 months ago

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