SENSORY SALON
This MoMA commissioned project aims to redefine queer youth homeless care through the design of an identity-affirming salon and sensory therapy room as permanent installations at the Ali Forney Center’s new Times Square headquarters and drop-in center.
Incepted through a hands-on workshop with AFC youth and staff, the designs directly reflect the needs and imaginations of the people who would ultimately use the spaces. The salon was designed for beauty and hair treatment and to serve as a celebratory space for identity affirmation. From the workshop, we learned that ownership, expression, and flexibility for all body types were highly important in addition to necessary salon elements such as ample storage, mirrors, and vanity lighting. It became crucial that the salon act as a space for empowering diverse ideas of beauty, centering of queer expression, and as a community resource for sharing, learning, and fun.
The sensory room is a therapeutic place for reset, relaxation, and multi-sensorial stimulation. The workshop participants imagined a design that was both calming and joyful, with touches and hints of nature transporting the user to another world. AFC’s neurodivergent clients were at the forefront of the design process when considering the range of textures, lights, and devices present in the room. An inflatable furniture piece fabricated by Pneuhaus functions as seating or as a hugging wrap for users to interact with as they wish.
Location | Manhattan, NY
Category | Cultural, Renovation, Workshop
Client | The Museum of Modern Art; Ali Forney Center
Status | Complete [2024]
With Agency—Agency in collaboration with Chris Woebken Studio
Team | Tei Carpenter, Kelvin Lee, Chris Woebken, Saralee Sittigaroon
Ideation | Dae Artist, AFC
Fabrication | Obfluent, Pneuhaus, Sampson Mills
Photography | Kelvin Lee (unless otherwise noted)
Featured: Architectural Digest; MoMA Year in Review
1’=1” salon model
(Photo: On White Wall)
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