Japanese studio Nendo has created a succession of boutiques for New York fashion brand Theory where garments hang from geometric black frames and circulation routes are modelled on road layouts (+ slideshow).
Theory North Beverly
Nendo has so far created a total of nine stores for Theory, including two in California, two in Paris, and others in London, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo and Osaka, all based on the same design concept.
Theory North Beverly
Each one has a largely monochrome interior with a layout shaped around the movement of customers through the store, which the designers compare to the flow of traffic on a road system.
Theory North Beverly
“Our idea was to adhere to the brand’s existing combination of simplicity and functionality with New York loft-style materials and a general sense of ease, while adding and emphasising a new concept: the flow of people,” they explained.
Theory North Beverly
Product display tables and partitions have been arranged to clearly divide up the spaces, creating a network of junctions.
Theory North Beverly
Changing rooms occupy generously sized spaces at the rear to encourage shoppers to spend more time trying on items.
Theory North Beverly
“We allotted more space than usual for the dressing rooms and created a buffer zone between the dressing rooms and the shop proper, so that shoppers can take their time trying on clothes and selecting items without thinking about the main flow of people,” said the designers.
Theory North Beverly
The first of the two new California stores is located in Beverly Hills and features a large shop window filled with a grid of mannequins, as well as clean white walls with recessed shelving.
Theory Melrose
A Los Angeles store occupies a converted warehouse on Melrose Avenue. Brick walls are left exposed and painted white, while steel trusses are visible overhead.
Shop interiors for theory, the New York-based fashion brand known for basics that fuse functionality with casual trends.
Theory Melrose
We designed the interiors for two shops in Paris and Los Angeles and one shop each in London, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo and Osaka.
Theory Melrose
Our idea was to adhere to the brand’s existing combination of simplicity and functionality with New York loft-style materials and a general sense of ease, while adding and emphasising a new concept: the flow of people. By coming up with a circulation plan as an urban planner might locate new roads within a city, we made careful provisions for people to flow into the shop naturally and move smoothly around it. For the London shop, we created a ‘boulevard’ that follows on directly from the crosswalk outside the shop.
Theory Melrose
The Paris shop is located on a corner, so we installed entrances on both outward-facing walls and arranged a softly curving ‘short cut’ between them. We then added ‘plaza’ and ‘park’-like product display stages and lounge corners like to fit with the ‘road system’ in each shop and modulate each space. For the London shop, this meant installing 8.2 m long tables orientated to match the traffic flows within the shop; for the Paris shops, we added a large river delta-like stage that can display more than ten mannequins.
Theory Melrose
We allotted more space than usual for the dressing rooms and created a buffer zone between the dressing rooms and the shop proper, so that shoppers can take their time trying on clothes and selecting items without thinking about the main flow of people.
Theory Melrose
Together, these touches allowed us to respond to the different demands placed on the shop space while creating new flows of people that may, we hope, flow out into and colour the city space around the shops, too.
Anemone tentacles moving beneath the surface of the ocean influenced the latticed facade of this student housing block by French studio Atelier Fernandez & Serres at an oceanic observatory in the eastern Pyrénées (+ slideshow).
The six-storey building accommodates 74 short-term residences for travelling students and researchers, behind an ornate coral-pink concrete screen that conceals the interiors whilst allowing light and ventilation to pass through the building.
Bedrooms are located on the four upper floors of the building. Corridors run lengthways around the edges, sandwiched between the rooms and the latticed facade.
“The colourful concrete mesh is at the same time a balustrade and a visual filter to the sea,” said the architects. “It provides a wall that guarantees the intimacy of users, bedrooms and walkways.”
Communal spaces and lounge areas occupy the two lower floors of the building. These include a canteen with a long strip window, which is the only interruption to the otherwise continuous facade.
The architects cast the components of the facade onsite then arranged them in irregular patterns to recreate the appearance of coral tentacles.
“We developed the facades using a limited amount of distinct shapes,” they explained. “These strands were then assembled in modules according to a simple mathematical algorithm which creates a vibration in the shadows and the matter.”
Read on for more information from Atelier Fernandez & Serres Architectes:
International Accommodation Centre for the Oceanological Observatory of Banyuls-sur-Mer
This project of an accommodation centre consists in a restaurant, working space for scientific research and seventy-four.
The building is part of a complex of facilities which include the oceanological research centre and observatory of Banyuls-sur-Mer, in France. This observatory is located in the middle of the marine natural reserve of Cerbères-Banyuls, in the Pyrénées orientales department. Its purpose, as a European scientific research and training centre, is to accommodate scientists and students from all over the world during short research and experimentation missions.
The building is located on the seaside and continues along the existing topography, be it of the sky, the ground or the horizon. It reinvents the relationship between the view and the landscape, and accompanies the building height plan of the city. It reinvents the relationship between the view and the landscape, and accompanies the building height plan of the city.
Its ochre tones reflect the surrounding hills and the nature of the soil that comprises the cultivated terraces of the hinterlands. These hills covered with vineyards tower above the sea and glint with the deep earthy hues of iron oxides.
The project, a rectangular monolith entirely coated in a gown of pink-ochre coral, faces the marina. It also marks the limits of the shore and the city.
Behind this undulating envelope, access to the bedrooms is provided by large peripheral walkways that also serve as balconies for the accommodations. These walkways are covered with a self-consolidating concrete mesh inspired by a graphic, light and see-through coral design.
We developed the facades using a limited amount of distinct shapes, called strands, that were casted on site. These strands were then assembled in modules according to a simple mathematical algorithm which creates a vibration in the shadows and the matter.
The restaurant is on the second floor. Its presence is highlighted by a large breach in the coral mesh, a window inviting the landscaping inside, and offering a panoramic view of the horizon and the open sea.
The colourful concrete mesh is at the same time a balustrade and a visual filter to the sea. It provides a wall that guarantees the intimacy of users, bedrooms and walkways. It also features openings which offer a subtle variation to the framing of the near and far landscape. The gaze is attracted from the inside to the outside and reveals the landscape. The views become rhythmic, accentuated by the movements and the different uses.
The international accommodation centre of Banyuls sur Mer draws its energy from the Mediterranean Sea. Beyond simple matter, the project falls within a poetic and scientific approach in order to reveal the landscape.
A diagonally stacked arrangement of cardboard shoe boxes covers the back wall of this footwear store in Santiago, Chile, by Move Architects (+ slideshow).
Move Architects designed 140 wooden supports with x-shaped profiles and inserted them into corresponding CNC-cut indentations on a large sheet of plywood mounted to the back wall of the shop.
“The X shaped perforations and supports are generated from the store’s name and logo, Bestias XX,” said the architects, explaining that the solution was also the result of a need for lots of accessible storage in a small space.
Shoe boxes can be stacked in a cascading arrangement between the supports and different patterns visible from outside the store can be created by leaving gaps or allowing some boxes to protrude.
“Given the project’s short construction time and it’s restricted budget it we decided to minimise the use of conventional manual labour and instead of what would traditionally be called ‘building’ a store, we decided to ‘manufacture’ the shop,” the architects explained.
Once the panels and supports had been created, the interior was assembled by the clients in 12 hours.
The store also features a plywood counter and metal stools for customers to try on the range of shoes.
Here’s a project description from Move Architects:
Bestias XX
Bestias XX can be summarized in two constrains: quantitative and qualitative. On one hand, 12 sqm has to hold at least 380 shoeboxes, 2 employees and 3 potential customers. On the other hand this quantitative restriction must be the image of the shop.
As a result space restrictions, from the beginning of the design process the project was treated as combined need for storage space and a strong image. Therefore, we decided that the shoeboxes would define the shop image. To achieve this, 140 wooden X’s were built and inserted into six 18 mm plywood sheets over a perforated grill at 45 degree defined by the size of the box (33x13cm).
The plywood sheets are hung from the store’s perimeter walls. Since the store is located in a corner of an urban shopping centre in Santiago, the boxes mounted on the X’s create an exterior façade. The X- shaped perforations and supports are generated from the store’s logo: BESTIAS XX.
Given the project’s short construction time and it restricted budget it was decided to minimise the use of conventional manual labour and instead of what would traditionally be called “building” a store we decided to “manufacture” the shop. The store was “mass-produced” mostly using two types of plywood sheets (one used to obtain the X’s) that were cut using a CNC router, thus reducing the cutting time to one day. The rest was only a matter of assembling and mounting.
From the construction of the 6 panels that contains the perforations and the X’s, the structure was assembled by the clients themselves in 12 hours of uninterrupted work.
Project Name: BESTIAS XX Architects: MoVe architects (Paula Velasco + Max Velasco + Alberto Moletto) Construction: Max Velasco Surface: 12 sqm Budget: U$ 12.000 Location: Providencia, Santiago, Chile Year: 2012
London architecture studio ShedKM used walls of locally quarried red sandstone to help this concrete house in north-west England fit in with its coastal surroundings (+ slideshow).
Located in an elevated position overlooking an estuary, the Welsh hills and the Irish Sea, Rockmount provides a two-storey home for a family with four children, and features a large garden and an adjoining swimming pool.
“The house aimed to suit a family with progressive views on design, give fantastic views from the living areas and make the most of the topography of the site,” said ShedKM associate Greg Blee.
“In addition, it had to limit its visual impact when viewed from the coastline,” he added.
The house’s upper level stretches west to east, projecting out from the peak of the slope into the garden, while the lower level is slotted underneath and nestles up against the landscape.
Red sandstone walls form the base of the building, referencing the site’s past use as a quarry and functioning as retaining walls to support the tiered levels of the garden.
“Outcrops of red sandstone jut out of the garden in various locations,” said Blee. “This stone became part of the material palette of the new house, as it provided a connection with the local geology.”
The long narrow swimming pool thrusts out from the southern facade, while a garage and master bedroom are contained within a small wing that extends out from the north, giving the house a cross-shaped plan.
A glass bridge connects the master bedroom with the rest of the house, including a large living and dining room with a circular seating area, a piano corner and a surrounding balcony.
Evenly sized children’s bedrooms are arranged in sequence at the eastern end of the floor, and stairs lead down to a playroom and guest bedroom below.
Photography is by Jack Hobhouse, apart from where otherwise indicated.
Here’s more information from ShedKM:
Rockmount
Rockmount is built in an abandoned quarry at the summit of Caldy Hill, a protected landscape of forest and heathland owned by the National Trust. The house straddles the quarry rock face and at one end projects out from the hillside above the estuary of the River Dee.
Photograph by Chris Brink
Local sandstone walls enclose ground floor spaces, but the majority of the living and sleeping areas are at first floor, taking advantage of the spectacular views. The house has a linear plan, with a more private annexe connected by a glazed bridge.
The glazed, open plan living area, containing kitchen, dining and sunken snug contrasts with a massive concrete chimney sitting alongside the house. Upper and lower levels are linked by a double-height void containing a steel and concrete staircase.
Spaces are arranged to allow long views along two axes, the length and breadth of the house, constantly connecting the user with the surrounding landscape. Walls and level changes merge the geometry of the house with the gardens, which have been left predominantly natural to blend into the Caldy Hill landscape.
The house is uncompromisingly modern and striking in form, yet uses a materials pallet of local stone and black painted timber, both found in the local vernacular. This acts to bed the house successfully into the site and its context.
Almost everything is pristinely white inside this dental clinic in Sicily by architecture studio Bureauhub, from the walls and floors to furniture, equipment and staff uniforms (photos by Roland Halbe + slideshow).
Aptly named White Space, the interior was designed by Bureauhub for a pre-existing orthodontic practice located in the city of Catania.
The architects began their renovation by installing a large Corian volume that wraps around several rooms inside the clinic to accommodate a variety of different functions and activities.
It integrates information screens and pull-out coat hooks in the reception area, and also curves down on one side to provide patient seating and magazine storage.
Elsewhere, it accommodates touch screens and remote controls for X-rays and medical information systems, as well as display walls for dental photography and other pin-up items.
“We envisioned an implant concept, based on the typical orthodontic use of high-precision medical devices, as a design principle throughout the space,” explained the architects.
The clinic has a clientele of mostly children, so Bureauhub also installed a piece of custom-designed furniture that combines a desk for writing and drawing with a grotto containing bubble-shaped hiding places.
“We aimed to tickle senses and curiosity, reversing the typical expectations of a waiting area into a self-exploration environment,” said the architects.
A signage system comprising 21 different symbols was developed to aid orientation around the clinic. Each symbol is milled into the Corian at children’s eye level, while a back-lit wall offers a guide to what each one means.
White Space is an private orthodontic clinic for an opinion leader and luminary who is applying and researching most advanced techniques and materials in his discipline.
Design concept
We envisioned an implant concept, based on the typical orthodontic use of high-precision medical devices, as a design principle throughout the space. Interior wall surfaces and furniture merge seamlessly into a continuous white shell of DuPontTM Corian® where cutting edge medical technology are implanted.
The plug-in components are ranging from ergonomic deformations like coat hangers or toothbrush holder folded out of the Corian® cladding up to technical implants like a touch screen and remote button for x-ray control or TV screens for medical information.
Since 80% of the clinic patients are represented by children, we aimed to tickle senses and curiosity, reversing the typical expectations of a waiting area into a self-exploration environment.
Core of the patient lounges is a multifunctional furniture designed ad-hoc to entertain with pedagogical value: on one side three intersecting void spheres form a grotto-like space to be explored by children, while on the other side a surface equipped with niches for pencils and comic strips is dedicated to study and sketching.
Children’s furniture design concept
A playful signage graphic with custom designed icons CNC milled into the white Corian® skin is positioned intentionally at children’s eye level. It refers to the softly glowing backlit graphic panel indicating the spatial organisation of the clinic. Here backlighting is created by pioneer use of OLED lighting modules, next generation sustainable light source produced with organic electroluminescent material that will help reduce CO2 emissions.
Main focus of the futuristic environment is based upon all handcrafted built-in components meticulously designed up to the smallest details and recalling the precision and craftsmanship of orthodontics. Every single detail experiences a subtle spatial presence, accentuating the abstraction and scalelessness of the ephemeral, monochromatic environment in a playful and poetical way.
Project Name: White Space Orthodontic Clinic Architect: bureauhub architecture Location: Via Teseo 13, 95126 Catania, Italy Building Type: Private Orthodontic Clinic Building Area: 220 m2 (NFA) / 257 m2 (GFA) Client: Dr. Davide Agatino Mirabella
French studio TVK has overhauled the Place de la République in Paris to create an even larger pedestrian plaza that includes a new cafe pavilion, water features and over 150 trees (+ slideshow).
TVK‘s largest intervention was to adapt the surrounding road layout to make more pedestrian-priority areas. This increased the size of the square to 280 metres wide by 120 metres long, making it the largest pedestrian space in the city.
“The redevelopment of the Place de la République is based on the concept of an open space with multiple urban uses,” said the architects.
“The elimination of the traffic circle frees the site from the dominating constraint of motor vehicle traffic. The creation of the concourse marks the return of calm in an airy, uncluttered two hectare space,” they added.
The new cafe has been added to the south-west side of the square. Named Monde & Médias Pavilion, which translates as World and Media Pavilion, it was designed to host different public activities.
All four sides of the building are glazed to allow views through. A solid canopy cantilevers from one side to create a sheltered seating area and its underside is clad with reflective aluminium.
French studio NP2F Architectes designed the interior of the cafe, which features a fluted marble bar, wooden chairs and an assortment of plants.
Three different kinds of concrete slabs were used to create the surface of the square and are interspersed with plane trees, honey locust trees and lighting columns.
A circular water basin has been added around the nineteenth century statue at the centre of the square, while the a second water feature comprises a plane of water covering a small area outside the cafe.
Monde & Medias Pavilion and Place de la République, Paris
TVK hand over the redevelopment of the Place de la République, inaugurated by the mayor of Paris on June 2013.
Due to its exceptional size (120m by nearly 300m), its symbolic dimension as a representative public statement and its location in the city, the Place de la République occupies a special place in the international hub that is Paris.
The redevelopment of the Place de la République is based on the concept of an open space with multiple urban uses. The elimination of the traffic circle frees the site from the dominating constraint of motor vehicle traffic. The creation of the concourse marks the return of calm in an airy, uncluttered two hectare space. The new square, now skirted by motor traffic, creates a large-scale landscape and becomes an urban resource, available and adaptable for different uses. Clear connections with the large boulevards promote a new balance centred on soft transport for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport.
The statue of Marianne, the reflective pool, the pavilion and the rows of the trees form a strong axis. This harmony is amplified by the serene balance of the mineral element and a very gentle slope of 1%. All these elements contribute to both the interpretation of unitary materials in a perennial and contemporary manner and multiple explorations (colours, water, lights) creating different urban ambiances. The Place de la République is now the largest pedestrian square in Paris.
The south-west part of the square houses a 162 m² pavilion, a unique building, glazed throughout to retain a continuous impression of this singular space. The pavilion was conceived and designed by TVK Architectes Urbanistes. It’s interior layout has been designed by NP2F architectes.
The articulation of public and pedestrian areas
Abandoning the traffic circle model
The redevelopment of the Place de la République is based on a decision to create the largest possible public pedestrian area. Paris was in need of an exceptionally large and versatile public place, like an open field in the heart of the city, a feature found in many other large cities. Also, it was essential to move away from the traffic circle model.
Functional & environmental dissymmetry
Two-fold dissymmetry, both functional and environmental, is used along the long axis of the square to blend it into the general urban setting.
Motor traffic has been reorganised. It now runs along the southern edge and two smaller sides of the square only. Now that the traffic runs in both directions and the pavements have been widened, the road is much more similar to the large Parisian boulevards.
Unity and balance
The Place de la République is also open to varied groups participating in a very wide range of activities. The aim of the project was to cater for these users by changing the balance between the roadway and the concourse. The most important challenge was to reunify and harmonise the attributes of a city with those of a local neighbourhood.
The pavilion’s design
In line with the principles adopted in the redevelopment of the Place de la République, the “Monde & Médias” Pavilion is a perennial building, designed to last. It is scalable and adaptable, but also is a strong presence, opening onto the square. It is the only edifice in the new square. The Pavilion is sited on the southwest part, in line with the reflective pool and the statue de la Republique. It is fully glazed so as not to obscure the view and provides a continuous vista of the square. The pavilion houses a “World & Media” themed café and its entirely modular interior can host a wide variety of festive, social and cultural events and uses in all seasons and all weathers.
The pavilion is assertively simple in design, comprising a closed volume, 9.29m by 18.20m and 3m high, and a 0.75m-thick roof with an 8.70m cantilever.
The pavilion’s envelope is entirely glazed. The visual impact of its structural assembly is minimal, so as not to perturb the prismatic appearance of the overall volume: the metallic elements are integrated to a maximum and the opening zones are concentrated to create an image of large glazed planes jointed together.
The supporting structure also participates in this self-effacement to achieve transparency: reduced to four small-diameter metallic posts at the corners, it is similar in design to the metallic elements. The roof band is composed of aluminium sheeting whose assemblage is invisible, with its horizontal and vertical aluminium rigidifying elements following the same rhythm as that of the glazed panels.
The cantilever’s underside is clad with large sheets of perforated aluminium. Echoing the large symmetrical composition of the Place de la République, the space’s interior organisation is dictated by a partition dividing it lengthways into two distinct and symmetrical areas.
Composition of the area and surface
The surface
The surface consists of paving slabs of different colours and sizes. The shady areas of the square are paved mostly in darker colours, while the open areas are generally paler.
The choice of prefabricated concrete ensures good performance in all weather, offering maximum resistance to the greatest variety of uses. This material also enables the use of monochrome colours, creating continuity with the surrounding surfaces of roads and roofs.
Three types of concrete paving slabs have been used in the square, reflecting its overall layout: – “large module” prefabricated slabs in the centre of the concourse, to give a wide perspective and cater for large-scale uses, – “medium module” prefabricated slabs for the rest of the esplanade along the concourse, – and lastly, “small module” prefabricated slabs (on a more ordinary scale) for the north and south pavements. The bus lane to the north of the square is made of poured concrete.
Before and after photographs
Levels
The density of the networks present under the Place de la République mean it also serves as a “roof”: the site is home to five Metro lines, sewers, telecom tunnels, etc. The levels create a main movement of great simplicity, vital to the spatial comprehension of the square and an understanding of its vastness. The simple 1% incline of the central concourse reveals two wide terraces at the back of the esplanade, in keeping with the scale of the surrounding area. The terraces continue the concourse but are edged to the north with steps. Between these terraces, the ground drops consistently towards the two large palace buildings and the shared trafficked area (pedestrians, cycles, buses, taxis), providing continuity of traffic flow and excellent accessibility.
Design diagram
A large garden, a large concourse
The square is unified by the single grand compositional movement and the one inorganic surface treatment. This unity helps to indicate three distinct sections: the urban garden of over 2,000 m2, planted and organised into several sub-areas; the central concourse of almost 12,000 m2 and 35 metres wide with the statue de la Republique as the focal point; the continuity of all the boulevards, with the road system on three of its sides and the widened pavement (13 metres on the longer side to the south west, which is the busiest side).
The terraces on the Place de la République
At the rear end of the esplanade, two flat terraces are each marked by a single step on three of their sides, which conducive to sitting and socialising. The new tree planting establishes a specific ambiance. The terraces will be equipped with movable structures expressing day-to-day and local themes, and changing with the seasons (roundabout, toy library etc.).
The playground is now located on the east terrace.
Water – in various forms and with a myriad of uses (climatic, social, recreational, aesthetic) – is a key feature of the central esplanade.
The monument basin
The statue de la Republique dominates the centre of the new pedestrian esplanade. The new base takes the form of a large circular basin, at the edge of which visitors can sit, walk, play, or examine the bas-reliefs.
During the summer months, it is filled with water, adding to the number of uses. The base also houses a new lighting system for the statue. Spotlights, sunk under the sheet of water, project moving reflections over the entire monument.
On the west concourse of the esplanade, facing the Monde & Médias Pavilion, the theme of water is repeated in a minimal, contemporary version. In summer, a fine sheet of water runs down the 1% slope, covering an area of more than 270m2 (23mx12m). Sprays are connected to this sheet of water. When switched off, they affect neither the topography nor the uses of the concourse, so are almost imperceptible.
Design Academy Eindhoven graduate Annemiek van der Beek has designed a collection of makeup that’s packaged to appeal to men (+ slideshow).
Called Primal Skin, Annemiek van der Beek‘s collection is designed to camouflage small imperfections in the complexion and accentuate the eyes.
“These days men are using more cosmetic products than before and even makeup is a more common topic,” the designer told Dezeen. “For women wearing makeup is a daily ritual and for them it’s much easier to use and buy it because of the big range of products. This new branding experience makes makeup accessible for the modern man.”
The set includes foundation in five colours, powder in five colours, eye pencil in stone black or coal black and eyeshadow in three shades of grey.
The cosmetics are made up of natural ingredients such as coal, clay and mineral stones, and must be applied with specially designed tools that van der Beek says give the experience “a rough and sturdy touch.”
Compacts and brushes are made of black anodised aluminium. “I chose aluminium because the weight and the temperature of the material feels more manly to hold,” she explained.
They come packaged in minimal boxes with rounded corners, made of black-pigmented MDF that van der Beek chose “because it looks like stone, but it is very lightweight.”
“Makeup products are always focused on the female user, but I think a guy wants to experience makeup in a different way,” she added.
Architecture firm OMA has designed a temporary auditorium for the basement of London department store Selfridges (+ slideshow).
Called the Imaginarium, the space will be used to host talks, debates and lectures during the Festival of Imagination, which opens in the store on 16 January.
The installation will feature a circular “amphitheatre” contained within a polycarbonate wall. Other walls in the space will be clad in mirrors while the floor will be painted in an Op Art-style pattern of black and white stripes, which will be applied using a road-painting machine.
“We asked Rem [Koolhaas of OMA] to do it and he said yes,” said Carlotta Jacoby, senior visual project manager at Selfridges. “It’s quite a simple design but with the mirrored walls it’s going to be pretty bonkers”.
The stepped amphitheatre will seat up to 72 people. OMA has also designed the furniture for the space and a folding screen that will be used during talks. Columns will be painted with green-screen paint.
The Imaginarium will host daily events during the Festival of Imagination – a store-wide festival that will “explore the nature, power and positive impact of imagination”. It will occupy the Ultralounge in the basement of the store, which is located on Oxford Street in central London.
Dezeen has teamed up with London department store Selfridges to present a futuristic concept store, featuring an augmented-reality watch store and a walkaround digital model of Zaha Hadid’s £300 million superyacht (+ slideshow).
The Jazz superyacht designed by Hadid for German shipbuilder Blohm + Voss (pictured above) will be the biggest and most expensive item ever sold at Selfridges.
Visitors will be able to explore an augmented reality scale model of the 90-metre yacht using a tablet computer. A representative of Blohm + Voss will fly over to London to discuss purchase options with potential customers.
The installation is part of The Imagine Shop, which opens on the ground floor at Selfridges on Monday 6 January and runs until 2 March as part of the Festival of Imagination – a store-wide festival that will “explore the nature, power and positive impact of imagination”.
The augmented reality technology at the Imagine Shop has been developed by Inition
Curated by Dezeen, the Imagine Shop will showcase future-facing products and explore how augmented reality could be used in future to create an immersive retail experience.
Customers can virtually try on a range of watches from the Dezeen Watch Store collection
Large items like cars, yachts or houses can be experienced virtually, existing only as digital models on a tablet or smartphone, but anchored to a physical location via a 2D “marker” pattern that tells the software where to place the object. This means customers can walk round, and even through, objects as if they were really there.
As well as the yacht, the shop will feature an augmented reality Dezeen Watch Store pop-up, where customers will be able to virtually try on a range of watches.
Other products on sale in the store will be grouped in three categories: Future Beauty, featuring objects that express a futuristic aesthetic; Future Life, including new product typologies we may use in the future; and Wearable Technology.
“Dezeen has long been a rich source of reference and inspiration for the creative teams at Selfridges, and we’re delighted to finally be collaborating with them on such a uniquely imaginative project,” said Linda Hewson, director of creative and windows at Selfridges.
Rendering of the Imagine Shop at Selfridges
The augmented reality technology has been provided by London 3D technology company Inition. “Inition is excited about the opportunity bringing our emerging technology production experience to present a world-acclaimed architect’s designs in a retail setting,” said Inition producer Ainsley Henn.
He added: “Being able to walk around a spectacular Zaha Hadid yacht as it ‘floats’ in front of you is very different to flicking through a traditional brochure. As far as we are aware, this is the most expensive retail item to be promoted in such a way.”
Product display area at the Imagine Shop at Selfridges
Festival of Imagination is at Selfridges, 400 Oxford Street, London W1A 1AB from 16 January. The Imagine Shop is open from 6 January.
A rooftop swimming pool with a glass floor cantilevers out beside the entrance to this house in Marbella, Spain, by Dutch office Wiel Arets Architects (+ slideshow).
Named Jellyfish House, the three-storey concrete residence was designed by Wiel Arets Architects with a rooftop terrace and swimming pool to allow residents to swim and sunbathe with a view of the Mediterranean sea over neighbouring houses.
The swimming pool projects out across a semi-enclosed terrace beside the house’s main ground-floor entrance, projecting ripples of light onto the ground below.
The rear wall of the pool also features a large interior window, allowing residents in the first-floor kitchen to look out at friends and family taking a swim.
“The searing Spanish sun constantly filters through the pool’s glass wall and floor, creating ripples of iridescent turquoise reflections throughout the entire house,” explained the design team.
Another indoor window creates a view through from the kitchen to a living room below the pool, where glass walls slide back to open the space out to the elements.
The gently inclined slow route spans the length the house, connecting all three floors with the roof terrace, while the adjacent fast stair offers direct access from the exterior to the roof.
Five bedrooms are shared out between the ground and first floor of the building. On the ground floor, two single bedrooms share a central en suite bathroom, while a master bedroom sits beyond.
Two guest bedrooms can be found on the partially submerged basement level, which emerges from the ground at the south-eastern end of the site to offer a secluded extra terrace.
“Taking full advantage of the ever-present Spanish sun, the Jellyfish House is an avant-garde expression of luxurious living,” said the designers. “As most of its facades can be opened and as its staircases are mainly outdoor, the house’s ever shifting boundaries between inside and outside are curiously blurred.”
Other unusual details include a service elevator that allows food and drink to be sent up from the kitchen to the roof, televisions and audio devices that are recessed into the walls, and a first-floor sauna and steam room.
Located in Marbella, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, the Jellyfish House’s neighbouring buildings block its view onto the nearby sea. Appropriately, it was chosen to cantilever the house’s pool from its roof, so that the beach and sea can always be seen while sunbathing or swimming.
The house is organised around two paths of circulation: a ‘fast’ and ‘slow’ set of stairs, which intertwine and traverse the house’s four levels of living. The ‘fast’ stair leads from the exterior directly to the roof; it is enclosed in glass, which physically separates it from the house’s interior, yet it is simultaneously open to the exterior elements, so that sand is not brought into the house when returning from the beach. The ‘slow’ stair – whose long treads and short risers lend it its name – spans the entire length of the house, from ground floor main-entry to roof; it is indoors yet also open to the exterior elements, further amplifying the house’s capacity for ‘interiority’.
The house’s rooftop pool is cantilevered 9 m southwest – toward the Sierra Blanca mountain range in the distance – and weighs nearly 60,000 kg. Equipped with an infinity-edge, its water merges with the sea in the distance. This pool has a glass-bottom floor and a panoramic window at its interior facing edge, both of which are 6 cm thick; the latter allows those in the kitchen to voyeuristically view those swimming, while a third window affords those in the kitchen a glimpse of the living room, whose terrace extends under the cantilevered pool.
The searing Spanish sun constantly filters through the pool’s glass wall and floor, creating ripples of iridescent turquoise reflections throughout the entire house. As such, the pool can be seen and experienced from nearly all areas of the house. Integrated within the pool is an underwater bench, which traces its length and also integrates a pool cover, so that it is out of sight when the pool is in use.
Five bedrooms are located throughout the house, with two guest bedrooms situated on the basement level that face outward and onto an extensive private terrace for the exclusive use of guests. As the ‘slow’ stair leads from the main entry to the guest bedrooms below, this area of the house is able to function as a separate entity.
The kitchen is strung along the southern facade of the house’s first floor, with all secondary appliances built into an adjacent and perpendicular hallway. The first floor is also the location of the sauna and steam bath. A small service elevator also allows, for instance, food and drink to be brought from the kitchen, or any other floor, up to the rooftop pool and terrace. This roof terrace features an oversized and custom-designed concrete table with an adjoining bench, which is contiguous to an angular chair for reclining while sunbathing.
The house’s structure is composed of poured in place white-concrete, supported by one column at the right-rear edge of its pool, and several smaller columns near the rear-dining terrace. All non-concrete walls were constructed with glazing, which allows sunlight to permeate the house. Multiple bedroom closets, whose obverse faces the ground floor hallway, are finished in translucent glazing to compound this sunlight diffusing strategy. Oversized and accordion-like folding panels of translucent glazing adjoin each dining or entertaining space, which, when opened, essentially expands the house’s numerous areas of living by nearly doubling their size.
All of the house’s audio-video equipment – such as its countless Bose speakers – are recessed into its ceilings and walls, which allows them to disappear within their context little noticed. Lighting illuminates all corridors and staircases, as well as underwater within the pool, ensuring the rippling effects of its reflections that shimmer through its glass floor and wall can also be experienced throughout the house at night.
Taking full advantage of the ever-present Spanish sun, the Jellyfish House is an avant-garde expression of luxurious living; as most of its facades can be opened, and as its staircases are mainly outdoor, the house’s ever shifting boundaries between inside and outside are curiously blurred.
Location: Los Monteros, 29600 Marbella, Spain Program: Housing Size: 650 m2 Date of design: 1998-2001 Date of completion: Winter 2013 Project team: Wiel Arets, Bettina Kraus, Lars Dreessen, Dennis Villanueva, Carlos Ballesteros Collaborators: Paul Draaijer, William Fung, Johannes Kappler Client: Private Consultants: West 8, ABT BV, Cauberg-Huygen Raadgevende Ingenieurs BV, Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos S.L.
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