* 미술품 수장고로 재해석된 뷰티 리테일 [ AIM Architecture ] HARMAY Beijing Hopson One Flagship

형태는 기능을 따른다. (Form follows function.) - 루이스 설리번

AIM Architecture Reimagines a Cosmetics Store in Beijing as an Art Storage Facility

화려함을 벗어던진 새로운 뷰티 리테일
오늘날 뷰티 매장은 화려하게 반짝이는 럭셔리 부티크이거나, 은은한 조명으로 채워진 안식처인 경우가 많습니다. 하지만 하메이는 확연히 다른 길을 걷습니다. 이 중국의 화장품 브랜드는 거친 창고형 미학을 공간에 과감히 끌어들였습니다. 이들에게 쇼핑은 단순히 물건을 사는 수동적인 행위가 아닙니다. 방문객이 직접 무언가를 발견하고 수집하며, 자신만의 취향을 큐레이션하는 탐험의 과정으로 매장을 진화시키고 있습니다.

미술품 수장고의 엄격한 질서를 빌리다
하메이와 오랜 시간 호흡을 맞춰온 에이아이엠 아키텍처는 매장마다 브랜드의 실용적 철학을 새롭게 변주해 왔습니다. 베이징 홉슨 원 몰에 문을 연 이번 플래그십 스토어에서는 미술품 수장고와 박물관 아카이브의 개념을 가져왔습니다. 수장고는 물건을 남에게 과시하기 위한 곳이 아닙니다. 철저한 체계 속에 물건을 보존하고 분류하며, 필요할 때 검색해서 꺼내보는 공간입니다. 건축가는 이 건조하고 미니멀한 접근 방식을 뷰티 매장에 적용했습니다. 그 결과 일회성으로 소비되던 화장품들은 마치 오랜 시간 가치를 지니는 예술품처럼 공간 속에 묵직하게 자리 잡았습니다.

동선과 수납을 하나로 묶어낸 공간의 언어
두 개 층으로 나뉜 내부는 동선과 수납, 그리고 전시가 하나의 언어로 매끄럽게 통일되어 있습니다. 층층이 쌓인 화물 상자 위로 금속 프레임을 짜 맞춘 중앙 계단이 가장 먼저 눈길을 사로잡습니다. 이 계단은 공간의 중심을 단단하게 잡아주며, 방문객의 발길을 위층으로 자연스럽게 안내합니다. 계단 주변으로는 이동식 메쉬 패널과 천장에 매달린 선반들이 늘어서 있습니다. 모듈식으로 짜인 이 진열대들은 언제든 유연하게 배치를 바꿀 수 있어 매장에 끝없는 생동감을 부여합니다.

차가운 금속과 기하학이 빚어낸 몰입감
공간의 형태는 직선과 사각 격자라는 엄격한 기하학의 규칙을 충실히 따릅니다. 질서 정연한 선반과 메쉬 파티션, 그리고 격자형 우물천장이 어우러져 시각적인 리듬감을 만들어냅니다. 여기에 스테인리스 스틸과 노출 콘크리트, 유리가 더해지며 윤기 흐르는 무채색의 배경이 완성됩니다. 인더스트리얼하면서도 미래적인 이 차가운 풍경은 방문객에게 마치 공상과학 영화의 한 장면 속에 들어온 듯한 짙은 몰입감을 선사합니다.

차가움 속에 숨겨진 따뜻한 변주와 색채의 리듬
이토록 매끄럽고 차가운 공간 곳곳에는 특유의 엄격함을 부드럽게 풀어주는 변주가 숨어 있습니다. 계단과 진열대에 통합된 나무 상자들은 차가운 금속 사이에서 시각적인 따뜻함을 전합니다. 무심하게 놓인 고전 조각상의 복제품과 추상화는 화장품을 예술품으로 대하는 이 공간의 유쾌한 태도를 넌지시 보여줍니다. 또한 정교하게 칠해진 청록색 금속 진열대는 단조로운 무채색 공간에 경쾌한 악센트를 찍어줍니다. 이러한 디테일은 공간 특유의 절제미를 해치지 않으면서도, 마치 잘 짜인 연극 무대 같은 깊이를 만들어냅니다.


쇼핑을 사유의 경험으로 끌어올리다
에이아이엠 아키텍처의 이번 프로젝트는 우리가 리테일 공간을 경험하는 방식을 조용하지만 강력하게 뒤흔듭니다. 미술품 수장고라는 철저히 실용적인 논리를 빌려왔지만, 그 결과물은 결코 건조하지 않습니다. 오히려 화장품을 고르고 담는 일상적인 쇼핑의 순간을 한층 더 신중하고 사유적인 경험으로 끌어올리며 우리에게 깊은 인상을 남깁니다.
Write by Gemini & Jean Browwn

At a time when beauty retail tends to oscillate between high gloss luxury boutiques and softly lit wellness sanctuaries, HARMAY has carved out a markedly different path. Embracing an industrial, warehouse-inspired aesthetic, the Chinese cosmetics retailer has consistently reframed shopping as an exploratory act that is less about passive consumption and more about discovery, collection and personal curation.

A longstanding collaborator of the brand, Shanghai based AIM Architecture has shaped numerous HARMAY stores, each time interpreting its utilitarian logic through a distinct conceptual lens; for its latest flagship at Beijing’s Hopson One Mall, the studio turns to the typology of art storage and museum archives—spaces where objects are not staged for display but systematically preserved, catalogued and retrieved. Transposed into a retail environment through a crisply minimalist, futuristic design lens, this approach succeeds in recasting beauty products as items of value rather than fleeting commodities.

Spanning two levels, the interior unfolds through a system that merges circulation, storage and display into a single spatial language. A central staircase, constructed as a pragmatic metal framework stacked on top of integrated cargo boxes, anchors the experience, guiding visitors upwards in a fluid, almost intuitive manner. Around it, movable mesh panels, overhead shelving and modular display units create a flexible environment that can be continuously reconfigured.

Formally, the interior is articulated through a rigorous geometric language of repetitive linear elements and square grids. This disciplined vocabulary is expressed across shelving, mesh partitions and ceiling coffers, creating a sense of order and visual rhythm. In combination with a restrained palette of stainless steel, polished concrete and glass, these elements establish a monochromatic, gleaming backdrop that feels at once industrial and futuristic, lending the space an immersive, almost cinematic quality.

Within this sleek environment, subtle inflections are introduced to temper the austerity. Wooden crates integrated into the central staircase and various displays bring with them a note of tactility and warmth, replicas of classical sculptures and abstract paintings playfully underscore the notion of beauty products as artworks, while turquoise painted metal racks punctuate the greyscale expanse with calibrated bursts of colour. The effect is both graphic and spatial, lending the space a scenographic dimension without disrupting an otherwise overall sense of clarity and restraint.

Ultimately, AIM Architecture’s design proposes a quiet but compelling shift in how retail can be experienced. By borrowing from the operational logic of art storage, it elevates the everyday act of shopping into something definitively more deliberate and reflective.

from archdaily