Retail design offers architects a way to bring their design aesthetic to the small scale. Not to mention, product design and architecture really are not all that different. Both require considerations of flow, utility, space, context, and interaction. Which goes to explian why some of the greats - Hadid, Saarinen, Gehry and Wright have had a hand in producing everything from chairs to watches to earrings.
Opened in 2008, the Hugo Boss Concept Store in MePa offers a great example of how retail products, high end fashion and architecture blend together seamlessly. A collaboration between Seattle based Callison and Italian firm Matteo Thun brought this 4000 sq foot space to life. Inspired by rough urban surfaces, textures and raw concrete, iron and wood, the store offers visitors a feel that is rugged yet decidedly intimate.
Featuring both men's and women's collections, the concept is a departure from the brand's traditional clean, straight aesthetic. The designers clearly took note of MePa's rustic influences with all the exposed brick, concrete flooring and graffiti art. Custom light installations wrapping the walls adapt to changing weather patterns and times of day.
Of course, the most notable feature of the store is the large wooden lattice installation that cloaks it, acting as both a designing touch and as a mount for a the lighting fixture comprised of dozens of LEDs. The store is rounded out with complimentary accents in the furniture - red velvet curtains, black leather chairs and tinted glass displays offer a look that is simple, masculine and effortlessly stunning.
No comments:
Post a Comment