The human skin is an anatomical barrier in bodily defense from pathogens and damage between the internal and external environment. It also contains nerve endings that react to touch, pressure, vibration, tissue injury, heat and cold. The average sq. inch of skin holds 650 sweat glands . . . on an average there are 100,000 strands of hair on a young adult amounting to approx.

2200 strands of hair per square inch . . . the human tongue has approx. 2000 to 8000 taste buds, taste buds are the receptors of taste and are involved in detecting the five elements of taste perception; sweet, sour, salty, bitter and spicy…the BAD Yoga project has 25,992 recycled pvc electrical conduits grafted onto its anatomy with surgical precision.

There are several compound words containing yoga in Sanskrit. Yoga can take on meanings such as “connection”, “contact”, “union”, “method”, “application”, “addition” and “performance”. In simpler words, Yoga also means, “Combined”. For example, guṇáyoga means “contact with a cord”. Yoga is a physical, mental and spiritual discipline, the BAD experience is all of the above and much more.

Designed as a tactile, sensory experience the project harbors a range of hybrid activities. The architectural component was designed to facilitate yoga, gastronomical experiences, and cultural event spaces for music, art, performances, intellectual discourse and fashion. These activities are stacked vertically over three levels, including an open to sky terrace courtyard.

Situated in a historical village settlement in Bandra West (which has morphed in recent times due to socio-economic pressures and increasingly high land costs), the project is accessible by foot and cycle from parking zones in close proximity. Remotely located from traffic snarls and insulated from typically high levels of air and sound pollution, the project is sheathed in tranquility and peace.

The dynamic “skin”, all of 25,992 black cylindrical conduits grafted into CNC’d aluminum composite box panels with acupuncture-like precision shares a peaceful co-existence with its neighbors, its presence gradually unveiled as one meanders through the narrow by-lanes of the historical urban fabric.

The porous, perforated nature of the skin allows the project to breathe and ventilate thereby reinforcing the relationship between the inside and outside, between body and soul. The architectural component was designed to facilitate yoga, gastronomical experiences, and cultural event spaces for music, art, performances, intellectual discourse and fashion. These activities are stacked vertically over three levels, including an open to sky terrace courtyard. Rough tactile “true to material” textures draped in a striking “black” and “black” composition complete the user experience.

Product Description – the architectural skin is composed of re-cycled PVC pipes. The dynamic “skin”, all of 25,992 black cylindrical conduits are grafted into CNC’d aluminum composite box panels. Digital design and fabrication tools were deployed to compose the entire system.

Architects: Nudes
Photography: Sameer Chawda

http://www.archdaily.com/796873/the-bad-cafe-nudes