Z Space is a Bay Area theatre that serves the community in dual aspects. For the physical place, the actual theatre is found in San Francisco’s Mission District, an area bustling with liveliness. In the social space, the artists that inhabit this theatre share their imaginations together in an open, creative space. Therefore, both space and place come together at Z Space harmoniously to bring about more than just a stage but showcase the imaginations of the bodies on stage in an arena worthy of the talented artists.

The founder of Z Space, David Dower, came up with this idea with some of his co-workers in 1993. During this time, a model like Z Space was very new to the masses because “at the time, there wasn’t any space for theatre artists, where you’d have actors and designers and performers and writers, people who had this idea or that-both an actual physical space and a community of artists to respond to your work” (Avila). In this sense, the community of artists is the social space Dower was trying to create a physical space for. Artists who arrived at Z Space would find that they had both ample time and a lot of space to come up with all the ideas they wanted and co-create with other artistic people also at Z Space.

For Dower, a space where artists could go with the flow and enjoy an open spacious environment was his vision for Z Space. Not only was the actual location in San Francisco somewhere full of artistic energy, the space inside served almost like an older version of the famous, fun “Google” workplace(without all the other modern perks). Z Space is a physical stage but this geographical component means nothing without people’s physical bodies and creative minds. It is this point and only this point that can have the power to bring the immense amount of square feet in the theatre to life.

Without the brain waves of all the artistic minds, the theatre would be void of the physical movement of people exchanging thoughts. Both spaces rely on each other to bring about an overall creative, open space receptive to accepting all working, creative minds willing to use their imaginations. Z Space was a place for different artists to co-create without having to worry about mass production and money issues. Thus, while the social space lives and thrives, the geographical place must also stay afloat financially. Foundations and using the physical space for rental occasions was ways Z Space stayed alive in the physical sense.

Therefore, the housing of imaginative minds ready to invent and co-create all day long was the vision of Z Space. Not only was Z Space a place of sheer creative energies floating around the physical parts around the theatre, but also Z Space’s “openness to other artists, companies, and institutions of the Bay Area has been a major part of the revitalization of Artaud and the continued evolution of Z Space” (Avila). Thus, the physical area around the theatre has even benefitted from the physical existence of Z Space with all the creative minds housed inside consciously creating and co-creating without a worry at hand.