Showroom in Chams-Elysees

Stella K specializes in the design and distribution of ready-to-wear factory made clothing. Their showroom occupies two floors in Avenue des Champs-Elysees, Paris, France. Pascal Grasso Architectures designed the showroom and is in the process of completing the project.

.

• Architect: Pascal Grasso Architectures
• Location: 34, Avenue des Champs-Elysees, Paris 8^e, France
• Client: Stella K
• Completion: 2011
• Photographer: Nicolas Dorval-Bory
• Assistants: Damien Descamps – Juliano Bottari
• General Contractor: Bane Deco
• Carpenter: Art and Comfort

The issue is simple: to turn these levels into office space and showroom for its clients. A major constraint remains unsolved. How to take advantage of the two corridors that are more than 35m (115 ft) each, leading to the main spaces?

The origin of the project consists therefore in the transformation of these long corridors in a functional and atypical space, the strain of the place becoming its strength.

These corridors, originally simple passages, are being transformed into the showroom itself. They allow clothing and other fashion accessories to be displayed. This new feature is made possible by the clamping of random volumes made of gray lacquered MDF. These volumes are like pieces of the wall that have been extruded. The rhythm, created by the volumes, increases along the showroom before fading gradually to the office. The realized effect boosts the space.

The main piece of furniture, which is separating the public space of the exhibition from the space for private offices, is another strong elemental structure. It begins over the reception area allows the necessary porosity to host clients. Then it gets denser in order to make the offices more intimate. This piece of furniture is made out of racks that stores supplies.

To complete the dynamics of the space, a subtle play of light is set up for both levels. At the first level the suspensions form falling tears from the ceiling. They create plays of light reflecting from more or less bright surfaces. The organic appearance is in contrast with the geometry of the installation.
Upstairs, the strips of fluorescent tube boost the effect of perspective created by the length of the showroom. They reinforce the geometric rigor of the space.

The geometry, by its (overwhelming) presence, transforms the space, blurring the bench-marks. The scale of the place becomes difficult to grasp. The intervention is seen as a series of spatial devices provoking disorder, disruption of the senses, a reaction which changes the perception and feeling. The geometric abstraction are enhanced by the lighting, which makes this negative space into an immaterial space.

Tags: France, Paris

Category: Showroom

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 19th, 2011 at 2:17 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.