For our final studio project, we were tasked with reimagining NYC's iconic Chelsea Hotel as a wellness hotel. I transformed the space into a darkness retreat, a design scheme meant to reflect the inner journey associated with personal well-being. Overall, my goal was to create spaces that facilitate moments of reflection and grounding, free of visually distracting features.

The hotel amenities are designed to enhance the overall retreat experience. Guests can visit the restaurant to dine before or after their retreat. They can also experience the meditation cave—a dark, tranquil space where they can meditate on warm sand, in a ritual that serves as an introduction before fully committing to the retreat. Additionally, a tea garden featuring the warm sand floor of the meditation cave offers another soothing environment.

Hotel guests' core retreat experience—a highly spiritual one—begins on the eighth floor. There guests are welcomed to a private suite that immerses them in complete darkness. The purpose of this retreat is to allow guests to focus completely on meditation, inner reflection, and spiritual experience free from distractions. Typically, after some days spent in a private suite, guests experience vivid hallucinations caused by the release of DMT in the brain, resulting from a lack of light exposure. These visions, often manifestations of the subconscious, become more intense until the guest is finally exposed to light at the conclusion of the retreat. Pushing personal limits becomes a pathway to spiritual insight and a process of confronting past unresolved traumas.

Following the retreat, guests are blindfolded and guided to the rooftop to be exposed to light. Because retreat participants' eyes are highly sensitive at this moment, this experience is timed to low-light periods such as dusk. The approach to the rooftop is designed to reveal the horizon gradually, minimizing the possibility of overstimulation from direct sunlight and allowing a gentle reintroduction to the outside world.