Mosaic is a luxury cannabis brand that enlisted M-Rad to design its inaugural boutique; we proposed a playful, hallucinogenic space where street culture and elite culture could collide.

As cannabis becomes legitimized through social struggle, its status begins to ascend from the depths of “illegal street drug” to the ethereal status of “elixir of the gods”. This figurative ascension from the street to the clouds is represented in both the partitioning of spaces as well as in the decor of each room. Intentionally ironic in their pop culture references and blatant metaphors, the spaces provoke clients to question the process by which meaning is constructed and moreover to question the process by which cannabis’ cachet has been and will continue to be elevated from “criminal” to “godly”.

An out-of-scale street scene invites passers-by to enter the Mosaic boutique. Inside, a hallucinatory vision ensues. Construction cranes, traffic cones, sports cars and other common street artifacts are converted into high-end displays with fine detailing and rich materials. A winding path invites visitors from the boutique to the lounge where they can relax in a space of clouds and enjoy fine music, tea and baked goods. Here, dematerialized references to Greek antiquity continue the effort of institutional critique initiated in the boutique by producing a classical, self-referential space, extravagant yet relaxing.