Johan Wijesinghe
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Flora Animalia
Los AngelesThree adjoining retail spaces from the 1920s, narrow and cellular in plan, were converted into a working environment for artist and fashion designer Rozae Nichols and her studio, Flora Animalia.
The existing conditions set the terms. Rather than opening the plan into a single continuous space, the intervention preserved the sequence of discrete rooms and worked with it. A tall, narrow entrance hall leads into a medium-sized workspace, then a large studio, then a demonstration kitchen, and finally out to a courtyard garden. Openings between the rooms were carefully proportioned to allow interaction without dissolving the identity of each space.
The kitchen was designed in-house: a lean composition of slender metal legs supporting a continuous worksurface, precise and undecorated.
The courtyard garden extends the logic of the interior outward. Large sections of concrete drainage pipe were repurposed as raised planters for seasonal fruits, vegetables, and herbs. The material is agricultural and industrial at once, which suited a studio whose work sits at the same intersection. Flora Animalia produces sustainable gardening apparel and accessories, all made in-studio. The building needed to hold making, growing, showing, and selling within a single coherent environment without collapsing the differences between them.
As project architect I led the project from concept through construction. I was responsible for design, drawing production, consultant coordination, contractor oversight, and client relationship throughout.
Drawings
Partners
Frank Escher, Ravi GuneWardena
Project Team
Johan Wijesinghe