Project: Writers Block Apartment
Architects: CHA:COL
Location: Los Angeles, USA
Photography: Edward Duarte
Writers Block apartment has been renovated in 2016 by Los Angeles architecture studio CHA:COL.
The Writers Block is a 1,500 square foot live-work loft designed as a creative nook within a historic warehouse building. The space was purchased by a New York Times bestselling author and videogame designer, both of whom needed a space for collaboration and production within an urban getaway.
The loft was zoned Live-Work in downtown Los Angeles for dual-use by artists. Taking cues from their background, we drew inspiration from the Escher-like geometries of the game Monument Valley. Our proposed design played on a premise of constantly shifting conditions created by geometric manipulations.We nicknamed it the Writer’s Block. As a central element it functions as spatial separation, production workhorse and furniture. A writing desk on one face, a shelf in another and a lounge elsewhere. The mural and floor finishes too reflected the continuity in these 2d/3d manipulations, interchangeably graphic and spatial. Each design element was the result of several iterations, informed by surrounding elements. All design areas flowed from and into the Writer’s Block. The owners now treat it as their second home for sketching, painting, writing and musical performances between book tour.
