Page 89 - AIT0925_E-Paper

Entwurf • Design Herzog & de Meuron, CH-Basel
Bauherr • Client Toteme, SE-Stockholm
Standort • Location Taikoo Li Sanlitun, CH-Beijing
Nutzfläche • Floor space 268 m 2
Fotos • Photos Adrian Gaut, US-New York City
Mehr Infos auf Seite • More info on page 126

TOTEME FLAGSHIP STORE

IN BEIJING

1 Verkaufsraum • Shop Herzog & de Meuron liquefy the DNA of Swedish fashion
2 Toteme Treppe • Toteme stair
3 Fenster • Window label Toteme and pour it into space. The existing structure
4 Schuhpräsentation • Footwear display is saturated with this DNA in several layers, both inside
5 Umkleidekabine • Fitting room
6 BOH Abteilung • BOH Area and out. With elegant restraint, the store in the middle
7 Außenbank • Exterior Bench
of Beijing’s bustling Sanlitun district invites visitors in as
discreetly as it does irresistibly. It is a house of refined
and subtle gestures of welcome.
4 5
I n 2024, the label had only been around for ten years. Elin Kling and
5 Karl Lindman are not only the founding couple, but they have also
been married for eleven years. They met in New York in the 2010s and
1 2
quickly realized that they shared the same aesthetic vision. Toteme is a
joint labour of love for authenticity. In Herzog & de Meuron, they found
6 partners on the same wavelength and, through a collaborative process,
they were able to formulate the aesthetic values of the brand and trans-
3
7 late them into space in an identical manner. Through folding and mul-
tidimensionality, the store gains depth and breadth beyond its elegant,
monochrome surfaces. It is easy to take time to wander around this two-
Grundriss Erdgeschoss • Ground floor plan storey Toteme universe. The design pieces do not impose themselves,
but lie casually along the way like landmarks. The boundaries between
fashion and architecture become blurred, objects, materials and furnitu-
re merge into a total work of art. A spherical, powerful cosmos has been
created here that expands the boundaries of visual language. The space
is filled with a dynamic staircase sculpture that not only connects the two
entrances on different levels, but also the floor and the ceiling, the earth
and the sky. When designing the staircase, Herzog & de Meuron were
inspired by traditional Chinese Gongshi stones, also known as scholar’s
rocks. Gongshi are a unique and ancient art from that has captivated the
Chinese for over a thousand years. Layer by layer, you immerse yourself
2
and delight in the subtly thought-out details. Up to the infinite sky –
1 the three-dimensional film screen dedicated to Ingmar Bergman. This
atmospheric film medley further dissolves the spatial boundaries of the
store and brings a little bit of Sweden to China. In fact, there is a great
deal of Swedish craftsmanship to be found in these premises. Accesso-
ries float on wavy, ice-like glass floors, jewellery is protected under hand-
blown glass bells – in the enchanted forests of southern Sweden, glass-
blowers have been firing their furnaces for hundreds of years, shaping
1 Toteme Treppe • Toteme stair
2 BOH Abteilung • BOH Area the forms and colours of glass design worldwide. Stone, metal, wood,
textiles, leather, glass – as specific and different as the materials are, they
Grundriss Obergeschoss • Upper floor plan all speak the same language: “Toteme”!

AIT 9.2025 • 089