Page 89 - AIT0919_E-Paper

Entwurf • Design Atelier Tao+C, CN-Shanghai
Grundriss Erdgeschoss • Ground floor plan
Grundriss 1. Obergeschoss • Floor plan level +1
Bauherr • Client JHW, CN-Zhengzhou
Standort • Location CN-Zhengzhou
Nutzfläche • Floor space 405 m 2
Fotos • Photos Atelier Tao+C, CN-Shanghai
Mehr Infos auf Seite • More infos on page 150
JHW STORE
IN ZHENGZHOU
At the JHW Concept Store in Zengzhou, central China,
grey in grey does not stand for the desolate same old
thing. Quite the opposite: the monochrome appea-
rance of the store conveys understatement visible from
afar and, thanks to selected materials, offers a discreet
yet prominent stage for the streetwear fashion of up-
and-coming Chinese designers on display there.
T he architects Chunyan Cai and Liu Tao from the Shanghai-based
studio Tao+C have created a 405-square-metre store in an incon-
spicuous shopping centre in the city centre of Zhengzhous. Despite –
or precisely because of – its uniform choice of colours, the store is par-
ticularly eye-catching. Two seemingly completely different materials –
washed granulite plaster and brushed stainless steel, one rough and
dull, the other sterile and reflective – dominate the newly opened bou-
tique in the heart of Henan's provincial capital. But a closer look re-
veals that the exciting connection between the two is just as harmo-
nious. In the 1920s, the so-called "Shanghai plaster" which was cho-
sen for this project was used in many virtuoso ways for decorative ele-
ments on the façades of Shanghai's Art Deco buildings. Now, the ma-
terial is experiencing an unusual comeback at this location, where it
was applied to most of the interior surfaces. A glass showcase on the
street side pushes into the interior, forming the entrance area and
thus the connection to the outside. The actual two-storey store, howe-
ver, was placed into the existing building like a shell in order to stand
out from the surrounding architecture. Light can nevertheless enter
the store: openings in the walls clad in plaster were fitted with perfo-
rated stainless steel sheets so that daylight shines through and casts
point-shaped lights onto the surfaces. Display cases and clothes rails
made of stainless steel specially designed by the architects complete
the furnishings of the two floors and provide the presentation space
for the – sometimes coloured – items of clothing. In order to provide
for conversations with customers and events away from the sales
mode, the floor in front of the service area on the ground floor was lo-
wered to form a stage-like area. Directly behind it, a staircase leads
through the partially exposed ceiling, past the preserved cruciform
reinforced concrete structure. On the upper floor, the glass box is
taken up again as an element, allowing customers to hover over the
ceiling opening, thus visually and creatively connecting the two surfa-
ces situated one above the other.
AIT 9.2019 • 089