2020
THE BARBER TRUCK
LOS ANGELES, CA

The Barber Truck is a project at the nexus of architecture, urbanism, and beauty & grooming, distinguished by a nimble responsiveness to pandemic times. The Barber Truck, designed as a collaboration between SAW x MOA (with Interiors by Night Palm), reimagines the barber shop as hyper local - a roving grooming station, deeply rooted in creating a comfortable, familiar, communal sense of place, even if not a particular location. There certainly has been a proliferation of mobile retail in recent years, typically through the growing acceptance of food trucks. However, the Barber Truck is something different - a space of actual inhabitation, producing an immersive experience, while not occupying permanent territory. This is a strategy about living on the land lightly, about reaching broader audiences, and allowing for the choreography of a greater variety of goods and services within any given neighborhood. The Barber Truck launched in March 2020, just in time for the pandemic to devastate the industry. Fortuitously, the truck had been designed with capability to operate inside out, with multiple workstations provided on the exterior of the vehicle - ostensibly for festivals and events. This strategy was something of a lifeline, allowing the Barber Truck to nimbly adapt to pandemic restrictions, safely providing haircuts outdoors, and instigating social gatherings which became known as the Summer Social Club in Los Angeles.









2020








BARBER TRUCK








LOS ANGELES, CA

The Barber Truck is a project at the nexus of architecture, urbanism, and beauty & grooming, distinguished by a nimble responsiveness to pandemic times. The Barber Truck, designed as a collaboration between SAW x MOA (with Interiors by Night Palm), reimagines the barber shop as hyper local - a roving grooming station, deeply rooted in creating a comfortable, familiar, communal sense of place, even if not a particular location. There certainly has been a proliferation of mobile retail in recent years, typically through the growing acceptance of food trucks. However, the Barber Truck is something different - a space of actual inhabitation, producing an immersive experience, while not occupying permanent territory. This is a strategy about living on the land lightly, about reaching broader audiences, and allowing for the choreography of a greater variety of goods and services within any given neighborhood. The Barber Truck launched in March 2020, just in time for the pandemic to devastate the industry. Fortuitously, the truck had been designed with capability to operate inside out, with multiple workstations provided on the exterior of the vehicle - ostensibly for festivals and events. This strategy was something of a lifeline, allowing the Barber Truck to nimbly adapt to pandemic restrictions, safely providing haircuts outdoors, and instigating social gatherings which became known as the Summer Social Club in Los Angeles.