08
UNITED BAMBOO STORE
Daikanyama, Tokyo
2003
An Old Building Re-clothed. The exterior of the building is given a second skin: a screen of stainless-steel mesh that encloses the balcony and re-shapes the building.
Bulge In & Out. On the ground floor, the glass facade pulls back to accept you; past mirrored side-walls, you walk through a sliding door. On the upper floor, which houses office and showroom, the glass façade pushes out; images of people in clothes from the store are projected out to the street.
A Clothing Store As Soft As Clothes, As Soft As Skin. PVC sheeting is pulled down from the ceiling onto the walls; it’s pulled out from the walls, and pushed back in, to make shelves; it’s pulled out and around to make a counter.
A Store On The Surface, A Store That’s All Surface. The skin glows from within; light from fluorescents, behind the PVC, is diffused throughout the store. The clothing is lit from above and behind.
Clothes In The Jungle. The small store bulges out of itself; the non-structural walls of the old building are removed, and replaced with curving glass alcoves. Hanging clothes are displayed in each alcove, inserted within the weeds & overgrown shrubbery outside; you look at clothes in, you take clothes out of, a jungle.
Fashion Without Models. If you like how you look, in the clothes you might buy, you can activate a camera, behind the mirror. It’s you who appears on the store façade, facing the street.
This project view belongs to United Bamboo Store, and is threadged with:
(I,
L,
T,
A)