Shigeru Ban Reimagines Tiffany & Co. Palo Alto – WWD

Tiffany & Co. continues to evolve its retail footprint, debuting a brand new facade for its Palo Alto, Calif., retailer envisioned by acclaimed architect Shigeru Ban.

“When designing, I all the time begin from the placement for context,” Ban defined by way of a Zoom name from his native Japan. “I proposed a facade which might change appearances and in addition one thing that takes benefit of regionally obtainable supplies. Relying on the place you take a look at the facade, you have got three completely different appearances.”

To his level, the award profitable architect integrated American oak — native to California — to specific Tiffany & Co.’s connection to the state interspersed with vertical glass slats that may be adjusted to numerous colorways, accommodating completely different seasons, themes or campaigns.

Ban gained worldwide acclaim through the use of unorthodox supplies — reminiscent of cardboard and paper — for constructions designed to help catastrophe victims across the globe. The Japanese architect’s résumé is intensive, together with the Centre Pompidou-Metz in Metz, France; Cardboard Cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand, and the Bare Home exterior Tokyo.

“I needed to make use of the Tiffany Blue in a different way,” he reported of his facade venture. “So, I made a zigzag facade: on one facet we put glass, and relying on the illumination, the glass modifications from Tiffany Blue to completely different colours. That’s one facet. In case you method from the appropriate facet of the shop, it seems to have an illuminated Tiffany Blue or different colourful glass facade. In case you see the shop from the opposite facet, it seems to be fully made from American oak.”

Situated at 149 Stanford Procuring Middle, the 6,300-square-foot retail location is expansive. Following the much-anticipated reopening of the Tiffany Landmark earlier this yr in Manhattan, Palo Alto marks the newest chapter in Tiffany & Co.’s design evolution and its partnership with world-renowned architects.

The shop interiors have additionally been reimagined right into a refreshed world of wonders by the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton-owned model’s inner group, reintroducing its shoppers to a brand new Tiffany & Co., an evolution that displays the home’s design idea born with The Landmark New York. Upon coming into, shoppers are immersed on this planet of Tiffany with a customized Schlumberger Blue Flame paintings, paying homage to the model’s heritage and longstanding collaboration with the designer.

As shoppers journey by the retail expertise, comfortable curves and natural strains harking back to clouds on curvilinear partitions create a refreshed elegant and trendy retail surroundings. Tiffany Blue seems in delicate touches all through the shop, whereas rounded circumstances in a refined champagne hue showcase an array of signature Tiffany designs.

Additional inside, the Diamond Eye set up greets visitors, composed of an abstraction of sides of a diamond, a tribute to Tiffany’s heritage as a purveyor of among the world’s best diamonds. Within the coronary heart of the shop, a sapphire coloured Lobmeyr chandelier options intricate crystal designs. Rounded selenite circumstances change conventional linear shows, meant to offer shoppers the chance to buy in a extra intimate method.

Inside finishes draw inspiration from archival motif, reimagined in trendy interpretations of customized plaster and wall finishes, gold cerused wooden accents, blond oak parquet flooring, plush rugs, intricate steel mesh, in addition to gold-leafed columns.

“I’ve made buildings with facades which are very versatile, to benefit from the pure air flow within the good seasons,” Ban mentioned of his lengthy listing of award profitable areas. “This venture with Tiffany is a part of the identical type of angle, the design can change relying on the circumstances. My dream is making buildings that, like folks, can change their garments relying on the season.”