This studio contains a gallery and living space for an artist whose work is highly influenced by Zen Buddhism and its influence on abstract painting. The site is a 20′ wide infill between two existing buildings. The process of design began with an investigation into Zen Buddhism and its relationship to 20th century western ideas and resulted in an attempt to fuse eastern and western forms in reference to “zen space” and the unity of opposites. A goal was to create an architectural koan, which emphasized spatial ambiguity and a blurring of dualities.

Spatial ambiguity might be seen as the presence of objects within the canvas of the site, in which the residual or negative space form the positive space of the studio. Objects would have sliding walls so that their spaces form a continuous flow with the residual spaces. The use of a grid structure implies the infinite and objective in which the subjective is penetrating. The presence of planes dividing but at the same time opening the space further emphasizes ambiguity by forming walls that do not house spaces, but are housed by spaces.