Retail Design Steps Up

Two recent store openings, both with interiors orchestrated by world-renowned designers, are currently highlighting the multiple merits of stacked up, step-style display units.

Offering a stimulating alternative to the generally sombre colourways found in menswear store design is NY-based architect Rafael de Cardenas. The founder of design consultancy Architecture at Large has used his signature shocks of colour and geometric shapes to create a beautiful, box (not to mention 1980s computer game Pacman)-inspired installation-style design for the interior of Unknown Union, a menswear boutique in Cape Town.

Embracing similar shapes, but in a more muted palette that references a more industrial thematic, Japanese design studio Nendo has created a stunning event space and showroom in Tokyo for sports brand Puma. 

Puma House showcases varying formations of staggered, stacked displays to form an interior landscape reminiscent of an Escher painting. Creating perfectly positioned shelves for individual shoes, the large-scale neutral background also ensures that product is king.

architectureatlarge.com

facebook.com/Unknownunion