DADA Studio —
A Multi-Sensory Creative Experience Space
Experience Design • Spatial Design • Emotional Environments
A five-year project exploring how space, atmosphere, and intuition shape human creativity.
Intro
DADA Studio was a creative, multi-room environment I designed and directed from 2020–2025 in Geretsried, Germany.
It invited children, families, teenagers, and adults to explore art as an intuitive, sensory, and emotional process — without pressure, judgment, or performance.
This case study tells the full story of how the project evolved, what challenges it addressed, and what I learned as a spatial and experience designer.
Description
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DADA Studio was a creative space I designed and directed in Geretsried, Germany, inviting children, families, teenagers, and adults to experience art as an immersive, intuitive, and joyful process.
The space merged artistic creation, sensory exploration, community, and movement into one holistic atmosphere. -
Alongside children’s workshops, DADA Studio offered a wide program for teenagers and adults — from classical drawing to fully open, process-based experiences.
Over the years, I continuously adapted the space, the program, and the emotional flow based on real user behavior and community needs. -
As the founder, I was responsible for the spatial concept, experience design, material curation, workshop development, and the full emotional architecture of the environment.
My approach emphasized how people feel, move, and connect in a space — creating an atmosphere where art could be explored without fear, performance pressure, or judgment. -
DADA Studio will close in December 2025, marking the completion of a five-year project dedicated to understanding how space, sensory input, and human behavior shape creative expression.
EVOLUTION TIMELINE
1. Beginning — A One-to-One Request that Sparked DADA (2020)
DADA began unintentionally.
During the post-corona period, someone asked me for private art lessons while I cared for my baby.
We started in a tiny office room. Through VHS courses, more people joined.
With my sister’s encouragement, I created a name, a webpage, and social media — forming a warm community of art lovers.
For two years, DADA was a cozy drawing and painting atelier — intimate, personal, experience-driven.
2. The First Layout — Simple, Warm, and Functional
The original space was minimal but intentional:
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chairs and a central table
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easels
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coffee & tea station
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organized storage for materials and artworks
I didn’t advertise much — word-of-mouth and VHS trust created organic growth.
Already here, I was designing emotional comfort and low-pressure creative flow.
3. Baby Art Sessions — The Turning Point
Two mothers reached out, asking if I could create a “baby art session.”
I researched sensory methods, mixed baby-safe materials, and shaped a calm, flexible space where the smallest ones could explore safely.
The session felt gentle, slow, and alive —
a room full of tiny hands discovering color for the first time.
They loved it. And soon, more mothers began arriving every week,
seeking that same moment of calm creativity with their babies.
Why it worked so well:
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I understood unspoken maternal needs
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space was baby-safe
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they could socialize
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flexible arrival and payment
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zero clean-up stress
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calm, warm emotional atmosphere
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I centered the design around the mother’s nervous system, knowing babies follow emotional cues.
This moment shaped my experience design philosophy.
4. What Didn’t Work — The Need for a New Space
The first room eventually limited the project:
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constant rearranging between children and adults
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invisible location (no street visibility)
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a community too big for the physical space
This made it clear:
DADA needed a bigger, more functional environment.
5. Expansion — Designing a Multi-Room Creative Ecosystem
I found a larger space that could be divided into three rooms plus storage and a street-facing vitrine.
I designed everything from scratch based on function, emotion, and behavioral observation.
Entrance Room (Swap-Shop & Social Area)
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mothers exchanged or sold children's items
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gentle transition zone
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welcoming and community-based
Front Room (Movement, Events, & Reset Space)
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balls, baby toys, balloons
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slide, instruments (e.g., tongue drum)
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place to regulate energy between creative sessions
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used for birthdays, neon-painting, yoga, and rentals
Back Room (Children’s Art & Sensory World)
Created through prototyping + observation:
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wall-to-floor painting panels (for all ages)
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sensory tuff trays with weekly edible materials
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low tables (floor sitting) for small children
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higher tables for older children
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a quiet dark corner with books & wooden toys
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cardboard light house
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rolling cart of household tools for experimental painting
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corner for parents to drink coffee
Here, I designed an entire creative ecosystem, not an art classroom.
Every design decision came from behavioral testing, emotional observation, and iteration.
6. Maturity & Closing — The End of a Natural Cycle (2025)
DADA grew into a beloved community hub.
Families from nearby towns visited regularly.
But after five years, I chose to close the studio due to:
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running everything alone — from planning, teaching, and administration to preparation, cleaning, and communication
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financial instability due to highly irregular income patterns
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local daycare regulations not fitting my philosophy
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These challenges were structural, not creative.
Closing DADA is a transition — allowing me to focus on what I do best:
designing emotional experiences, atmospheres, and spaces.
Challenge
How can a creative space invite people of all ages to experience art freely — without pressure, rules, comparison, or perfection?
I aimed to dissolve boundaries between:
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adult and child
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play and art
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order and experimentation
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quiet and movement
The challenge was to build a space that feels safe, intuitive, and emotionally open.
Concept
DADA Studio was designed as a multisensory environment where artistic expression and physical experience blend naturally.
The concept focused on:
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smooth transitions between zones
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warm, tactile materials (wood, textiles, clay, paper)
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emotional flow design
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intuitive accessibility
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self-directed, childlike exploration
It combined elements of Reggio Emilia pedagogy with experience design and spatial sensitivity.
Process
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Research & Observation: Understanding needs of families, babies, children, teens, adults.
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Spatial Design: Creating zones for creativity, calmness, movement, and social connection.
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Program Design: Building workshops around rhythm and sensory exploration.
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Iteration: Prototyping, testing, adjusting layout and materials.
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Experience Curation: Sensory invitations, calm corners, story-based workshops, rituals.
Outcome
DADA became:
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a trusted, warm local hub
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a place where children gained creative confidence
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a social space for mothers
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a discovery world for babies
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a creative environment for teenagers and adults
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a sensory, emotional, safe community
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Visitors described the space as peaceful, inspiring, and grounding.
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The project demonstrated how environment, atmosphere, and emotional design can shape behavior and creativity.
Reflection
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DADA was the bridge between art education and experience-centered, spatial, and UX design.
It taught me to hold opposites: -
structure with freedom
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intuition with usability
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creativity with calm
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stimulation with safety
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This balance now shapes everything I design —
from exhibitions and cultural environments to digital interfaces —
spaces where sensory richness meets quiet transformation.
Closing Line
This project showed me that creativity is shaped as much by environment as by intention.
When space, atmosphere, and sensory design work together, people of all ages — babies, children, parents, adults — feel free to explore, express, and reconnect with themselves.
This insight continues to guide my approach to designing experiences, both physical and digital — creating environments that feel intuitive, safe, and quietly alive.
Curious to create something together?
Reach out — I’m here to listen, understand, and design with intention.
