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Architects: F.O.G. Architecture
- Area: 300 m²
- Year: 2022
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Photographs:INSPACE
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Lead Architects: Dejing Zou
Text description provided by the architects. High-end fashion brand Xiaozhuo has opened a new boutique shop at 758 Julu Road in Shanghai. The shop combines multiple functions that extend from commercial space to public and leisure space, which allows it to be seamlessly integrated into the local community.
We kept the original structure of the building which became the starting point of the design concept. Inspired by the “event space” theory from Bernard Tschumi, we tried to explore a state of space with ambiguity and uncertainty that would encourage the interaction between the shop and the street. Eventually, we defined a few architectural elements through the deconstruction of the brand’s identity and the process of garment making, creating an eventful and identifiable space with aesthetic forms.
Event space: the medium between shop and street. The space is best described by Tschumi as “in-between”. Retail display is the project’s preset function but the pavilion-like exterior challenges it and adds the possibility of leisure, entertainment, and social. The front space not only serves as the connection between the shop and the street but also creates an experimental space that allows contrasting events to happen.
A “Sowed-up” space: nonlinear design narrative. The waiting area and the product display area are in sharp contrast in terms of palette, material, shape, and scale — stone versus fabric, light grey versus off-white, straight lines versus curved surfaces — allowing the former to become a transitional area of functions and styles, connecting the interiors to the exteriors, while guiding the customer behaviors by the shifting of views and touch.
Palimpsest: the traces of the past. Inspired by the art form “hyperart Thomasson”, our idea of renovation is not to remove the old parts or deliberately avoid the exposure of the original structure, but to allow them to stand out by changing the colors or materials, adding a lot of fun factors to the space.
Any renovation can be seen as a "palimpsest" or an organism with its own evolutionary history, we want to participate in the writing of its progress and retain some historical traces in awe, through which we share the joy of discovery.
