Katherine Hung
Spatial Design
Vestige
WHERE YOUR SOUL REMEMBERS WHAT YOUR MIND FORGOT
Vestige explores how reflective nostalgia—the bittersweet beauty of lingering memories can be translated into an immersive spatial experience.
Rooted in the idea of memory as fragile traces, shadows, and echoes, Vestige challenges the traditional nightlife experience by shifting the focus from digital overstimulation to tactile, soulful connection.
Rather than recreating the past, the design positions the space as a living archive of fragments where people can inhabit a memory through multi-sensory storytelling, hand-finished textures, and rituals of shared discovery.
Project Location -
Arts District, Downtown LA
Arts District, Los Angeles Situated at 902 E 3rd St, the project is anchored in a historic industrial hub now defined by creative experimentation. Vestige serves as a discreet sanctuary for the neighborhood’s “Nightlife Thinkers,” offering a tactile, slow-paced retreat amidst the high-energy pulse of the city’s premier arts district.
Target Audience:
Designed for a community of young professionals and creatives (ages 20–40) who inhabit the lofts and studios of the Arts District. These are the “Introspective Romantics”—urban dwellers seeking a soulful retreat and tactile connection over the digital overstimulation of traditional nightlife.
Floor/Section Plans
The floor plan is designed as a maze, mirroring the fragmented nature of human recollection.
By replacing direct paths with “veiled” architectural arcs and shimmering chain dividers, the layout encourages a journey of discovery rather than navigation.
This intentional mystery forces a slower pace, allowing guests to stumble upon “Memory Objects” tucked into hidden niches and textured cork recesses, ensuring the space is never fully revealed at once.
Elevations with Materials Applied
Elevation 1: Open Seating, Booth Seating
Elevation 2: Booth Seating, Check In, Entrance
Elevation 1: Open Seating, Booth Seating
Elevation 2: Booth Seating, Check In, Entrance
Social Experience: The Rituals of Connection
Vestige is designed as more than a dining space; it is a collaborative
archive where guests actively participate in the creation of the atmosphere through rituals.
Object Exchange Ritual:
Scattered throughout the “maze” of the space are curated niches that form a living archive. Guests are invited to participate by gifting, trading, or leaving behind “memory objects”—small physical fragments of their lives. This ritual transforms the architecture into a collective gallery of shared human traces.
Entrance/Check In
The Time Capsule:
At the conclusion of the evening, guests are offered the opportunity to record a thought or a note to their future selves. These messages are sealed and stored within the venue, to be returned months later. This interactive element anchors a fleeting evening in time, ensuring the experience of Vestige lingers long after the guest has left the hidden threshold.
Walkway to Seatings
Cuisine: Asian American Fushion
A Sensory Narrative The culinary experience at Vestige is a curated dialogue between memory and flavor. The Asian American fusion menu features small plates and hand-crafted cocktails designed as “sensory anchors,” utilizing ingredients like yuzu, lychee, and toasted sesame to trigger nostalgia.
Beyond the palate, the experience is a physical ritual. The menu highlights the beauty of the “unfinished” and the “refined,” treating ingredients with the same tactile care as the spatial materials to encourage slow, multi-sensory engagement.
Plate Setting
Booth Seating: The Art of Intimacy
Designed to foster deep social connection, the booth seating serves as a private sanctuary for small groups of four to five guests. These intimate nooks are carefully layered with textures that act as “memory carriers,” turning a simple seating area into a multi-sensory experience.
The Layered Atmosphere:
Custom light fixtures crafted from Ginwashi paper filter the light to create a soft, veiled atmosphere. This play of light and shadow blurs the edges of the space, mimicking the fragile and ephemeral nature of memory.
Tactile Warmth:
The surrounding walls feature Gencork’s dark brown cork, utilized for its rich, patterned design. This sustainable, renewable resource provides acoustic privacy and a dense, earthy texture that anchors the space in a sense of “timelessness”.
Booth Seating
Open Seating: Veiled Discovery
The open seating area is designed as a landscape of light and shadow, where boundaries are felt rather than seen. By utilizing semi-transparent layers, the space maintains an energetic flow while providing a sense of secluded discovery for every guest.
Floral Chain Dividers:
Shimmering metal chains act as a “veiled” architectural skin. Intricate Asian floral patterns are printed onto the chains, creating a poetic mask that obscures the movement of the restaurant while allowing glimpses of light to pass through.
Light Washing:
Overhead lighting is directed down the length of the chains, catching the metallic links and the floral graphics to create a glowing, vertical tapestry.
Focal Intimacy:
At the center of each table, a single candle serves as the primary light source for the dining surface. This low-level illumination rakes across the table, highlighting the raw, tactile textures of the materials and creating a small “island of memory” for the guests.
The Bar: A Sync of Light and Form
The bar serves as the heart of the “Living Archive,” where the preparation of cocktails becomes a performative ritual. The design utilizes a rhythmic interplay of curves and material depth to mirror the fluid nature of memory.
Chroma Narrative:
A translucent divider made of 3form Chroma. This material captures and diffuses light, acting as a glowing veil that provides a sense of privacy while maintaining a visual connection to the mixology process.
Architectural Sync:
Custom-integrated lighting is designed to move in perfect sync with the spatial arcs of the bar. This linear illumination follows the curves of the ceiling and back wall, drawing the eye through the space.
Textured Backdrop:
The back bar features Gencork’s dark brown cork with a custom-patterned relief. This organic, sustainable surface provides a rich, acoustic-softening backdrop that contrasts with the clean, luminous lines of the Chroma panels.