리테일 프로젝트 컨셉은 단순함 그리고 천장에 모든 객체들이 매달리는 것에서 시작된다. 이는 두가지 측면에서 유리하다. 판매를 위한 가구 또는 아이템의 자유로운 배치가 가능하며(제품의 특성 및 트랜드에 빠르게 대처가 가능하다.) 고객들의 자유로운 동선? 확보가 가능해 진다. (고객의 자유로운 동선 확보는 저변에 상품과의 적극적인 관계맺기가 깔려 있음을 간과해서는 안된다.) 실질적인 구현을 위해 디자이너는 자신이 상상하는 탄력적인 천장(다양한 오브제가 중력 또는 하중에 의해 하부로 당겨지는 모습이 반영된)을 디지털 시뮬레이션 통해 검증하며 스토어에서 필요로 하는 설비; 라이트, 스피커, 스프링쿨러, 카메라, AC, 환기시스템 등을 또다시 반영, 디자인을 완성한다. 최종 결과물은 10,000개의 투과성있는 파이버글라스를 스트라이프(길이방향으로 재단)로 제작, 천장면에서 오가닉한 형상으로 부착, 시공한다. 이렇게 완성된 내부공간, 실링 랜드스케이프는 빛의 투과 및 반사를 통한 극적인 장면 연출로 조각같은 아름다움과 이를 통해 비워진 공간에 대한 비움의 미학을 표현한다.
reviewed by SJ,오사
When I started this retail project there was a simple and appealing idea of hanging everything from the ceiling – thus moving out of the way the furniture and items to be sold so that all the floor space could be free for customers to circulate. So using a software that simulates the physics of real materials, we imagined an elastic ceiling that was pulled down by the weight of these various objects. The next step was to think about the technical equipment necessary for the store such as lighting, speakers, sprinklers, cameras, AC and ventilation so it was natural to think of this ceiling as a permeable surface. This was the origin of the ethereal white ceiling; an ephemeral support for ephemeral objects.
We provided the factory with a file of more than 10,000 different shapes of stripes to hang on the ceiling and thank goodness each piece was not hand crafted by the Chinese workers but was precision cut by machines in a super short time. We used a very thin white translucent fiberglass material because of its fire resistance and the good way it reacted to light reflection thus creating a ceiling landscape that would be a spectacular source of light, beauty and emptiness; perfect for every fashion victim.
Although the store is not very big the extension of the ceiling landscape is apparently endless thanks to mirror walls that disorient the visitors walking around these ethereal ceiling cavities.
This heavenly ceiling is surely the protagonist of the space; we chose recycled timber as a dark background for the floor and walls to make the ceiling emerge from the general environment. Finally we designed simple cubical volumes covered with soft grey felt as the only furniture which the shop could use as sofas, cash desk and product displayers.
The store façade is left transparent simply showing the striped section of the ceiling volume thus creating a sculptural attraction for the visitors to the Chongqing World Financial Center.
from contemporist