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ing, and the confusing market square, which invites visitors to browse. In world-wide and "Europe's largest men's shoe department" convinces with its functional simplicity.
(shop) field studies, Zimmermann recognised that "department stores that constantly India Mahdavi combined the former sophisticated chic with graphic lines and curves of
vary their archetypes are successful. So much for the theory! However, how does Radice stone as well as earthy shades and brass gold; architecture firm Storage Milano
combine Germany's history-steeped department stores with an urban lifestyle to create immersed the latter in sparse elegance with wooden floors, shelves made of dark glass
a tourist magnet? Let's have a look at the rebuilding stages to date! and warm spotlights, which stage the shoe models like museum exhibits. Rummage and
surprise: almost all of the redesigns follow the interplay of display areas, which present
The recipe for success: generous, distinctive and surprising goods by colour or theme, and shop-in-shop solutions, which, uniformly framed, provide
brands with individual presentation areas. According to Zimmermann's typology, this is
New generosity: flight of stairs, splendid columns and atria - that's how the consumption a mixture of museum and bazaar. This arouses both curiosity and the desire to rummage
palaces once looked like. "As the pressure on goods increased, the stores lost their open- as does the boundless range: the top-of-the-pops of luxury pair up with small manufac-
ness and transparency over time. When modernised, they regained their generosity," turers, trendy niche labels and regional brands. The offer is specified down to the small-
retail consultant Wolf-Jochen Schulte-Hillen describes the redesign of KaDeWe. Seen in est accessories and ensures surprising cross-selling effects. This is particularly evident in
this light, the Alsterhaus of 2021 will also be more similar to the one from 1936 than the the young multi-label space "The Storey", which offers not only streetwear but also target
one of 2015! The declared aim of Kleihues+Kleihues is to extend the classicism of the group-specific care and home products, reading material or services such as a nail stu-
façade back into the salesrooms. The combination of two entrances and a reconstructed dio. Feasting in a nicer environment: luxury department stores are places of seeing and
view across the first two floors are the start. Two escalators and subsequently installed being seen. Fresh culinary concepts reinforce this factor. This is already apparent at the
floor slabs are to be removed in order to expose the atrium, which has been crowned Oberpollinger: the "milk bar" attracts visitors to the top level underneath the roof, while
with a skylight dome. At KaDeWe Berlin, OMA dares to reinterpret old consumer splen- hip fast food made from high-quality ingredients lures them into the basement. KaDeWe
dour. The entrance became grander again, the shop windows larger and crowned with will also prepare itself for new gourmet delights: on the seventh floor, the roof is replaced
arches. Otherwise, the design divides the 60,000 square meters of sales area into four by a glass structure. The area including the roof garden will be used by caterers. In the
quadrants, each with its own iconic staircase. Four vertical department stores are to be future, separate entrances will provide access after closing time.
created next to each other. Completely different with regard to their design and range of
products, each one addresses different occasions and target groups. This layout gives The department store as a trend barometer of your own lifestyle
Europe's second largest department store a clear, easily understandable structure, the
absence of which OMA's executive architect, Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli, identified as the Market experts agree: "In terms of architecture, the KaDeWe Group is well on its way to
greatest shortcoming. Local unique qualities: historical façades are unique, and the inte- joining the world league of luxury consumption. Whether or not it will assert itself will
rior of the department store is to become unique again! This is ensured by fireworks of ultimately be decided not only by the hardware but also by the software: Will shop win-
design that immerses each of the six departments - two in each house - revised so far dow displays again and again attract attention and customers into the shop? Is the staff
into a striking otherness. The Oberpollinger lives on contrast: Pawson created a 4,500- convincing as trend ambassadors? Can the range of products be changed and added to
square-meter "Living" concept under the roof, which focuses on Japanese purism and in order to provide permanent inspiration? The modernisation will be a complete suc-
alpine themes. Daylight, wood and brass highlights radiate cosy warmth and form the cess if customers perceive the consumer palaces as the trend barometer of their lifestyle.
antithesis to "The Storey" in the basement, which presents streetwear in the industrial
charm of a trendy club. With dark colours, metallic gloss and geometric shapes, the
Berlin-based designer duo Gonzalez Haase created the necessary coolness. Cool, but in Die benachbarte Beauty-Abteilung „Neue Schönheit“ entwarfen Found Associates aus London.
the sense of purist clarity, also is the ground floor of the Alsterhaus. Framed by light-
coloured composite stone columns and terrazzo floors, the costly items are displayed on
white tables and silvery shelves. For the "Accessoire Hall", Kleihues + Kleihues borrowed
from both classicism and the unadulterated coastal landscape of the North. Local refer-
ences also characterise the neighbouring "New Beauty" department. Green grained mar-
ble tables are reminiscent of the waters of the Binnenalster, while the contrast of oak
flooring and white-ribbed panels picks up on typical brick houses and limestone villas,
the London-based designers from Found Associates explain their concept for the beauty
department. At KaDeWe, in turn, the "Women's Designers" are framed by extravagance

Den Entwurf zur klassizistischen „Accessories Hall“ im Alsterhaus lieferte das Büro Kleihues+Kleihues.

Fotos: KaDeWe-Group

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