Amy Mazius & Davy Greenberg

Founders of Metahaiku / LA, California

Metahaiku has become one of the spaces that I cannot stop sharing, created by Amy and Davy, a very inspirational couple based in Los Angeles. The inspiration for the space comes from Scandinavian and Japanese design; minimal and intentional. As Davy says "nothing not being used has to be out." In opposition, Amy brings in the 80s inspired power office energy. Their style compliments each other in the most perfect way. Metahaiku is a place of creative experimentation, a photo/video studio, an event or co-working space, even retail as it evolves. They are looking forward to shaping up the space as ideas flow from other people. This interview is very special for me, I could not stop reading their answers over and over again. They truly gave the most insight and behind the scenes of how they created this space, what's the future looking like and how everyone can benefit from Metahaiku. Super excited to share. Enjoy!

You can find them @metahaiku, @amymazius and @davygreenberg :) For the rest of the links to their work, check the end of the interview :)

I love when two creative people come together to create something meaningful. How did Metahaiku come to life? I also really wonder about the meaning behind the name :)

We work in digital industries. We spend a lot of time discussing the need for physicality, something tangible.

Regarding the name and its origin story…we have to keep that a secret. But we can tell you this–we’ve never met a haiku we didn’t like.

As the studio is a big, open, industrial space, how did you start designing it? Did you have any inspiration in mind?

We did have a vision–2 beanbags, a big noguchi lamp, and building out a wooden platform as kind of a secondary living room. The space crystalized from there. We’re both inspired by Scandinavian and Japanese design. 

The size of the space really lends itself to the ideas; building a platform felt really crucial to the design. We wanted to feel some separation in a way that’s practical–utilitarian. We’re inspired by Japanese minimalism; the part of minimalism that attracts [Davy] the most is there’s a place for everything. Nothing not being used has to be out. We use the entire underspace as storage. 

[Amy’s] really inspired by a design alter ego–a power 80s office with endless filing cabinets; creating the reverse of that– a big work table to lay out reference images and build moodboards, natural light, a soft energy–felt like an exciting departure. Leaning more into the idea of collaborative artist lofts opens up the possibilities.

Do you have some favorite places in Los Angeles to source furniture and find inspiration?

Yes! A few of our favorite stores: Des Pair books, The Row, Rachel Comey, Just One Eye Tilda, Counterspace, Tortoise General, The Good Liver, the Mak Foundation Schindler's House; we love the home extension of Mohawk General store–Joseph, who sources much of the furniture, has an amazing eye! Beyond stores, [Amy’s] main source of inspiration comes from nature and around the city: Hiking Bronson Canyon and Griffith Park is a big inspiration–the colors and layers of the warm tones and natural elements. People-watching and the texture of the fruits and vegetables at the Hollywood farmer’s market. Little getaways like Ojai and Palm Springs–everything from the architecture to the antique malls. Most of [Davy’s] inspiration in LA comes from other places’ build-outs, not necessarily what they sell. Davy loves the feeling of walking into a shop where he could just hang out there all day; we’d love for methaiku to take on that feeling. Some of those places include Maru, Sanso, our friend Al’s store Paa, Cactus shop, Woon, and Sunny Blue.

Images: On Instagram @metahaiku, on TikTok @metahaiku

Amy: On Instagram (your best friend) @amymazius and agency @whatisthisregarding_global

Select work whatisthisregarding.com

Davy: On Instagram ~sometimes working @davygreenberg and running @davyruns

Select work davydoes.com

Tell us a bit about both of you, who are you?

We’re both creatives with laidback approaches and fluid mediums. [Amy] works on branding, research, and writing with a focused interest on emerging companies and distressed heritage brands. [Davy] does visual production, spanning from music to sports to travel and humanist content. But you asked about who we are, not what we do. Our joint venture came together around this principle: to make something physical where we can get our hands dirty, a study in the art of the life-work balance. 
Our latest personal accomplishments include [1] Amy’s OPT OUT! 2022 Trend Report (from her agency What Is This Regarding) + [2] Davy’s first marathon (2 more on the calendar).

What made you decide on this particular space? Did you have a certain image in mind while searching?

Our friend had a space in the building. When we went to see a unit, we tried to wait and think about it–but we ended up signing for it the following day. We had the option of other units, but ours was the only one with a fire escape.

What kind of services does Metahaiku offer? What is your dream for this space? What kind of projects do you want to create here?

The studio has to be usable for photos and videos. The things we have to consider are things like time of day the light comes in, natural light always looks the best; being able to shoot during golden hour is the dream. 

What we really like about working and shooting in our own space is that we’re not limited by the constraints of other people. We can shoot any time of day or night, anything we want, without the pressure of time limits. It gives us the opportunity to learn the space and get the shots we want; we can experiment and play in a way you couldn’t in someone else’s studio.

The thing that mainly excites [Davy] is shooting more film photography again. It can be a tedious and precise art, and having the time to do that in metahaiku really alleviates the pressure. 

We also love the ongoing process of adding and eliminating; the art of moving pieces around, searching for furniture and objects we love, finding perfect spots to highlight or hide them gives way to a living, breathing space that’s an art project on its own.

We’d love to be able to provide a community element and host brands and people we love. We are more than a photo studio; we really care about having a space for coworking, ideating with our friends, and pursuing business avenues that interest us. [Amy] loves collecting and bringing people together to discover special things. From the start, we’ve talked about creating an interesting retail concept; that’s something we’ll explore as the space evolves. Highlighting special pieces our friends make–with editions just for metahaiku–would be an ideal way to use the platform. [Davy’s] personal long standing secret (don’t tell anyone) is to sell coffee out of our studio to the other building residents. 

The rug inspires us to host a movie night series–watching movies on the big rug–especially Studio Ghibli and music films from Kanye and Beyonce–feel like something we’ll pursue. We love our projector–the scale and quality makes viewing immersive and dreamy.

What’s so interesting about having our own space is you get to spend so much time in it and there’s the opportunity for ideas to come to you. We’re excited to see what metahaiku offers to us in terms of ideas.

Lastly, would you share where you get some furniture for the space?

Antique malls in Palm Springs, pieces we’ve collected over the years, and Home Depot gave way to our first pieces; our power tools have been a collection we’re excited about. To be honest, so far, [Amy’s] favorite thing in the space is our shop vac. 

The rug is a family heirloom from Davy; he had it his house when he was a toddler and it’s been in storage for the last 25 years waiting for a room big enough to put it in. When it came, we couldn’t believe how well it fit.

Our big table was something we built. [Davy’s] brother built the same table–he moved into an apartment on the lower east side in New York. He ripped out the built-ins and used the spare wood to create a Donald Judd inspired table. [Davy] always loved how it felt visiting. We thought building the table, the first major piece in metahaiku, would be a good opportunity for us to test out the whole concept of having a studio: to have something tangible that we create with our hands. The work table was a very literal first project. We happen to love it–and it was so fun to create.

We found antique silver and a chair at a biannual outdoor market at the Modernica offices near downtown; our lamp is from the Noguchi museum; the masonite paneling was inspired by Green River Project LLC; we always hunt on craigslist.

[Davy] lived in Chicago for a long time–and our two pieces of art right now are a framed poster from Joe Freshgoods, a piece he made for the MCA; and a framed metallic bag from a favorite running brand Satisfy–we love the clean design of their packaging. 

We’re really into creating our own statement pieces, like our table, shelves, and coat hooks. Details have come from friends who visit the space, like our vintage Gucci calculator from a creative director friend of ours, a cactus terrarium from a client and friend; we’re currently working on having a few pieces of art made by friends. The Hunt downtown also has great vintage pieces–we love stopping in to see reference materials, auction brochures and 80s car magazines.

Our kitchen is an exciting spot for us–we love Hasami porcelain and our donabe clay pot (perfect for a vegan hot pot) from Counter Space and Tortoise General; We love our Fellow kettle and Chemex.