Page 71 - AIT0120_E-Paper

Entwurf • Design Domani, CN-Guangzhou
Grundriss Erdgeschoss • Ground floor plan
Grundriss Obergeschoss • Upper floor plan
Bauherr • Client Urban Revivo, CN-Guangzhou
Standort • Location Westfield Mall, GB-London
Nutzfläche • Floor space 2.500 m 2
Fotos • Photos Ann Yu, CN-Guangzhou
Mehr Infos auf Seite • More information on page 134
UR FLAGSHIPSTORE
IN LONDON
The Chinese answer to Zara and H&M is Urban Revivo
and currently opening new stores worldwide. In Lon-
don's Westfield Mall, designers from the agency Domani
created one of the largest flagship stores in Europe for
the young Asian fashion brand. Colours, materials and
objects blend into an overall concept that combines in-
ternational branding with local characteristics.
M any people usually associate China with drinking tea according
to traditional ceremonial customs from earthen cups, which are
produced in all shades of brown, ranging from light red to almost
black. Particularly well-known are tea ceramics made of Yixing clay, an
iron-oxide-containing earth with a characteristic violet-brown colou-
ring, which has been very popular throughout Europe since the seven-
teenth century. It is therefore no coincidence that Domani Architectural
Concepts from China has based its design concept for the new fashion
store entirely on the typical colour in vernacular referred to as purple
sand, a muted pinkish-red tinge of beige in combination with rust-red
iron profiles. A wall, already visible from a distance and plastered in
exactly this colour, guides passers-by into the store of the Asian fashion
brand UR. Here, surprising, unforeseen perspectives open up for those
entering: suspended cubes structure the two-storey sales area, form
gaps and interspaces, create different spatial proportions and visual
relationships and thus arouse curiosity among the potential customers
to venture deeper into the store. This impression is further reinforced
by a skeletal presentation system made of standardised square profi-
les, which introduces another structuring level with seemingly floating
product displays. Only the staircase cuts into this dense arrangement
as a vertical gap and guides the customers up to the upper floor, where
half-height parapets open up an unrestricted view of the mall and en-
trance area. When looking down, horn-shaped loudspeakers of various
sizes and orientations attract the visitors' attention. The loudspeakers,
which emit fragments of sound and speech from regions of China and
places far from typical Western reach, thus thematise the Chinese la-
bel's relationship to the international context, as do the materials and
colour scheme. Theatrical lighting effects create an additional spatial
tension through strong light/dark contrasts and underline the uncon-
ventional character of the exhibited pieces of clothing. In this way Do-
mani aesthetically achieves what branding aims for – building a bridge
between global recognisability and regional identity.
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