Another Seedbed is an apartment that doubles as a performance space
CategoriesInterior Design

In this renovated loft in Brooklyn, the owner both resides and hosts public art performances within a space divided by a variety of inserted volumes.

The loft is located in a late 19th-century cast iron building in Williamsburg that once served as a hat factory, and was renovated by a team of architects.

Red-stained plywood volume within apartment
A team of architects renovated the loft, inserted volumes to conceal private areas

Ignacio G Galán, Jesse McCormick, Khoi Nguyen and Julie Tran of Future Projects collaborated to turn the industrial space into a residence that could also serve as a venue for artistic performances and other public events.

Named Another Seedbed, the project recalls the use of lofts in New York City by artists in 1960s to 1980s for developing experimental works.

Red-stained plywood with concertina door
The bedroom is hidden behind red-stained plywood panels and accessed through a concertina door

The owner and activator of this apartment began organising parties, performances and other events in a similarly industrial space in Bushwick.

He then decided to create a dedicated space for himself to live and work, as well as host other artist friends who needed square footage to bring their ideas to life.

Hand-troweled earthen clay plaster wall in front of plywood doors
Hand-troweled earthen clay plaster covers the bathroom volume

“Neither just a private studio nor an art gallery, the space is equipped to welcome gatherings that operate between a dinner party and a public performance,” said the project team.

“Artists appropriate the space and become hosts themselves, expanding the communities which the project brings together.”

Bathroom lined with blue penny-round tiles
Inside, the bathroom is lined with blue penny-round tiles

The apartment is organised as a largely open-plan space, with private areas concealed inside inserted volumes.

Red-stained pine plywood panels hide the bedroom, which is accessed via a concertina door, and also contain storage.

Living room with open-shelf storage and ochre-coloured sofa
Moveable furniture helps to arrange the apartment for performances

The bathroom occupies another volume that’s covered in hand-troweled earthen clay plaster outside and lined entirely is blue penny-round tiles inside.

An open kitchen with grey cabinetry sits below a framework of coloured wood, featuring smokey polycarbonate panels that are lit from behind.

This frame extends into the living area to form a floor-to-ceiling shelving unit, on which books and objects are displayed, and a projector for screening videos onto the opposite wall is housed.

A variety of moving furniture pieces, including an ochre-toned sofa on wheels, help to choreograph the events and arrange the apartment as desired by whoever is using it.

Dark room illuminated by projector and neon lights
The owner and his artist friends are able to transform the space to present their work

“The space will not advertise its performances,” said the team.

“Some neighbors might not know of its existence. Others will hear about an event through friends. Some might find themselves there often and will develop networks of neighbourliness within it.”

Silhouetted figures sweep the ground of the dark room
Performances are open to the public but not advertised

Brooklyn has both a thriving arts scene and a wealth of defunct industrial buildings for hosting exhibitions, performances and events.

Herzog & de Meuron recently completed the transformation of a derelict power plant in the borough into arts centre, while the Public Records creative venue added a bar and lounge on an upper floor of its former warehouse building earlier this year.

Reference

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