Neon Berlin

"Trojan Horses" Option Studio was focused on genres in order to understand how they communicate and to manipulate them into a hostel design. After deeply understanding a specific genre ('synth wave' in this case) a number of ideologies and elements were chosen to suggest potential narratives to use as a point of departure in architectural design. The genre synth wave as both musical and aesthetic style; emerged in mid 2000s as an admiration to 80s spirit and aesthetics, it is inspired by the retro video games with significant single point perspective and lo-fi graphics; post-industrial and hi-tech dystopias from the 80s movies like Blade Runner and Terminator and neon wireframe computer graphics. Cyberspace grid, single point perspective, deconstructive and post-industrial aesthetics are determined as the main characteristic elements. The approach for spatial organization started from overlaying variously sized tiles as a geometry of the physical space which is inspired by the cyberspace grid as a geometry of the digital space. Exterior public baths as the main public facility create a foggy atmosphere with the big metal pipes to emphasize the industrial materiality of the site. A double skin facade offers an unconventional spatial experience for the rooms by framing the exterior with the dense facade structure.