New Retail

In the decades since the advent of the shopping mall, shopping has become synonymous with entertainment and the retail store a key player in establishing brand identity. In a growing trend, high-profile architects are designing provocative storefronts and interiors that create an aura of exclusivity, draw in customers, and attract media attention rivaling the goods within. New Retail examines this phenomenon with an overview of 24 of the most innovative retail spaces built around the world in recent years, designed by high-profile international architects as well as smaller cutting-edge firms. Projects in the book include the Carlos Miele store in New York (Asymptote), three stores for Louis Vuitton in New York and Tokyo (Jun Aoki), Selfridges in Birmingham, the UK (Future Systems), two clothing boutiques in Sao Paulo (Isay Weinfeld), the Mandarina Duck store in Paris (NL Architects), and the Mpries Supermarket in Austria (Dominique Perrault), among others. More than 250 color photographs as well as floor plans and site plans showcase the architectural and interior design, lighting, and often experimental materials that create these ultimate retail spaces. For the Selfridges department store, for example, Future Systems clad the building with 15,000 aluminum disks attached to a sprayed concrete surface. In New York, the interior of the Carlos Miele store by Asymptote features a sensual, sculptural white ceiling of molded high-gloss PVC-based material. Each project is accompanied by a 500-to-700-word description that explains the design concept, site, program, and significant building technologies and materials. A general introduction discusses precedents to these projects and current issues in the architecture and design of retail spaces.