Rotterdam-based powerhouse OMA designed Italian jewelry company Repossi’s sleek new flagship store in Paris’s Place Vendôme, incorporating non-traditional materials including tinted mirrors and aluminum foam.
The retail space occupies the historic square with other jewelers like Cartier, so the architects wanted to create an interior space that was unlike that of its neighbors. To accomplish this, OMA, whose idea was to "synthesize" architecture and display, fashioned the store as a kind of stage.
They used colored mirrors, developed in partnership with Dutch designer Sabine Marcelis, and traditional mirrors throughout the three floors to create different shopping environments on each level.
For instance, the first floor features a rotating billboard-like display that has a bronze-colored mirror on one side, a traditional mirror on the other, and a display system on the third, reflecting the frenetic pace of shoppers coming in and out of the store. The second level features a gallery for customers to browse the wares, and the basement a salon for appointments and customization services.
Connecting each floor is a staircase surrounded by reflective metallic panels and steps on the lower sections that are made from an aluminum "foam." Take a look around the gleaming boutique below.
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