Ben Pianese: Co-Founder of Asiatic & Bodywork Practitioner Since 2001
Ben’s vision was not to create a typical Thai spa, but an atelier: a place where the body is treated with the same patience, precision and respect found in skilled craft.
Ben Pianese: Co-Founder & Visionary Custodian
Shaping the Asiatic Atelier Philosophy
Ben has been connected to Islington for many years, and this has influenced his view of Asiatic. Since 1997, he has seen Upper Street evolve, but he still values the tradition of independent shops, skilled trades, and personal service.
These values are now part of Asiatic’s approach. Ben believes that good bodywork should be personalised for each person, just like a custom-made garment. He adjusts pressure, pace, focus, and technique to fit each client’s needs and comfort level on the day, rather than sticking to a set routine.
Our Angel studio at 93 Upper Street and our Highbury studio at 262 Upper Street are both set within buildings with their own local histories. By creating our ateliers inside these former craft spaces, Asiatic continues a tradition of personal service, skilled work and independent trade.
Today, Ben helps guide the standards behind Asiatic’s Master-Led Somatic Bodywork approach, ensuring each treatment feels thoughtful, personal and grounded in skilled touch.
FAQs
Bodywork, craft and the philosophy behind Asiatic.
Ben Pianese has completed training in ITEC sports and remedial massage, anatomy and physiology, traditional Thai yoga massage, neuromuscular therapy, myofascial release, trigger point therapy, muscle energy technique, and Magrin Method coaching.
This training helps Ben take a remedial, movement-focused approach to bodywork. Instead of using a standard routine, he applies soft-tissue techniques, assisted stretching, focused pressure, and closely watches posture, movement, and how the body responds during each session.
You can find more details about Ben’s qualifications and background on his therapist profile.
Master-Led Somatic Bodywork is Asiatic’s unique approach to massage and bodywork, developed by its founder.
This method combines skilled touch, awareness of pressure, movement, posture, breathing space, and clear communication. The goal is to create a treatment that adapts to each person, instead of following a set routine.
Ben developed this approach through years of hands-on practice and remedial bodywork experience. He believes the body should be treated with patience, not force.
Ben’s approach is hands-on, observant and adapted to each person.
Unlike a standard massage that follows a set sequence, Ben focuses on posture, movement, muscle tension, comfort, and how the body responds during the session. He uses soft-tissue work, assisted stretching, muscle energy techniques, and focused pressure to shape each treatment.
This makes the bodywork feel personal, responsive, and specific to each client, not routine.
Ben has also studied body awareness and how touch, breath, and holding patterns are connected. This shapes how he notices tension and adapts each session.
Asiatic is a Massage Boutique and Wellness studio with two locations on Upper Street: Asiatic Angel at 93 and Asiatic Highbury at 262.
We use the word Atelier to describe our philosophy, not as an official business type. Both studios are in older Islington buildings known for skilled trades, crafts, and personal attention. To us, atelier means bodywork shaped by patience, precision, skilled hands, and personal attention.
Ben calls Asiatic an atelier because he believes bodywork should involve skill, patience, and close attention.
He believes massage should be adapted to each person, much like a tailor fits a garment. Pressure, pace, focus and technique should respond to the person in the room, rather than following the same routine for everyone.
This idea guides the way Asiatic works across both Upper Street studios.
Ben Pianese has provided over 50,000 hands-on bodywork sessions during more than twenty years of practice in London.
This experience has shaped the standards behind Asiatic’s Master-Led Somatic Bodywork methodolody. Ben’s work is based on practical touch, careful observation, and the belief that every body should be treated individually.
We use the term Structural Tailoring to describe part of the thinking behind Asiatic’s Master-Led Somatic Bodywork approach.
Like a tailor adjusting a garment, the therapist changes pressure, pace, angle, and technique to fit the client’s body, comfort, and response during the session.
This is not a fixed routine. It is careful, responsive bodywork shaped for each person.
Ben’s somatic approach recognises that physical tension can be linked to stress, long-term habits, and patterns of holding in the body.
His training in the Magrin Method has shaped how he works with touch, breath, body awareness, and gentle release. This is not psychotherapy, medical treatment, or a replacement for mental-health care. It is a bodywork approach that helps clients notice how they hold tension and how their bodies respond to touch.
Ben Pianese’s professional work and business journey have been featured in national and London media, including The Guardian Small Business Showcase, The Huffington Post and London on the Inside.
These features show his long-standing role in London’s massage and wellness industry, as well as his interest in skilled bodywork, professional standards, and thoughtful hands-on care.
Then list the features below:
Ben believes more Londoners are looking for skilled, personalised, hands-on care.
Even in a fast-paced, digital city, people need quiet spaces, experienced therapists, and treatments that feel thoughtful instead of generic. This belief shapes Asiatic’s founder-led standards.
For Ben, the future of wellness is not just about trends or technology. It is also about returning to skilled touch, personal attention, and spaces where the body can relax.