A STATEMENT ON HOW PRADA IS TRYING TO ALTER THE PACE OF SHOPPING EXPERIENCE

THROUGH EXPERIMENTING WITH FUTURISTIC INTERIORS

Prada Experimenting With Futuristic Interiors

Maheen Mohiuddin

NED University of Engineering and Technology

 A STATEMENT ON HOW PRADA IS TRYING TO ALTER THE PACE OF SHOPPING EXPERIENCE THROUGH
EXPERIMENTING WITH FUTURISTIC INTERIORS

Abstract

Shopping being one of the few remaining forms of public activity, the retailers are now seeing it

as an opportunity to pulsate the image of an idea rather than to promote consumer buyer

behavior. The Italian fashion house Prada is exploring the three dimensional experience for their

users and providing them with variety of spaces within a store to grab their attention, and to

hand it back with their high end luxury products. This paper examines how high end brands are

collaborating with designers to overthrow the idea that commercialization is only about selling

product. And how Prada wants to be seen not only for its fashion collections, but also for

affording contemplation, boldness, romance and luxury. All through modern and futuristic

approach in design.

2
 A STATEMENT ON HOW PRADA IS TRYING TO ALTER THE PACE OF SHOPPING EXPERIENCE THROUGH
EXPERIMENTING WITH FUTURISTIC INTERIORS

1. INTRODUCTION OF THE FLAGSHIP STORE

Prada is a group and fashion brand ran by Miuccia Prada. The brand was created by Miuccia‟s

grandfather, Mario Prada, in 1913 with bags and suitcases. They expanded their scope of work

over the next few decades to include men‟s and women‟s fashion as well as shoes and

accessories. Miuccia‟s along with her husband‟s, Patrizio Bertelli‟s, shared passion for

contemporary art has a huge influence on their brand, and the design of their flagship stores. The

brand exudes intellectual and minimalist style, a phenomenon that extends to the futuristic design

of its flagship stores. (artdesign)

The brand has now extended into 618 worldwide boutiques. PRADA Boutique Aoyama, the

flagship store in Tokyo, Japan was originally planned in Switzerland by Herzog & de Meuron

(H&deM) and then finalized in Japan, where every square foot counts, and where every building

differs from its neighborhood context and the structures occupy the whole site. H&deM tried to

bring the breathable urban space, like in European cities, by shifting the whole building to one

side of the plot and creating a small sort of plaza outside. And by layering the structure with

convex, concave and flat glass panes, the interior-exterior connection is softly built through the

curves and reflections of glass, and the glazing

look on to the traditional roofs of residential

units in Aoyama. The city is somehow framed in

the rhomboid modules of steel and glass and the

transparency of the design allows the passers-by

to get a glimpse of Prada‟s world.

3
 A STATEMENT ON HOW PRADA IS TRYING TO ALTER THE PACE OF SHOPPING EXPERIENCE THROUGH
EXPERIMENTING WITH FUTURISTIC INTERIORS

2. DESIGN CONCEPT ITSELF A STRATEGY

To stimulate a debate

Prada‟s ambition is to capture attention and to create an experience worth talking about by

offering the consumers more than what they expect through either its retail goods or from the

concept to the smallest detail of the flagship stores‟ design.

The aim was to create a design “which combines a classic appearance and a contemporary

spirit,” said Bertelli in explaining the concept of the new building. (Prada’s Latest Glow: Luxury

Group Unveils $83M Tokyo Landmark, 2003). H&deM tried to

forge structure, space and façade in a building which looks like

different things at the same time. Some say that it‟s a finely

carved emerald stands in a paved courtyard in the Aoyama

District, some claim that the structure has all the attributes of a

breathing body with the horizontal tubes, floating counters

supported with metal arms and sperm-shaped “snorkels”. Figure 2: A photo of the store's facade
with green glass panes.

According to the architect himself, the building‟s form could be

interpreted in different ways…like a crystal or a simple house with a pitched roof, depending on

the angle from which the building is seen (Mehta). “The store shimmers throughout the day and

shines like a lantern at night”. However, with all the contrasting perceptions, the fact that the

exterior forms a transparent sculptural shell and the interior space is just as fluid remains explicit.

4
 A STATEMENT ON HOW PRADA IS TRYING TO ALTER THE PACE OF SHOPPING EXPERIENCE THROUGH
EXPERIMENTING WITH FUTURISTIC INTERIORS

3. A HOLISTIC EXPERIENCE

The purpose was to offer a distinguished and enigmatic experience. The exterior of the store

becomes the interior element as well as structure. The white structural grid and the horizontal

tubing in the interior integrate with each other coherently. Also, the changing rooms and the

circulation routes are treated in a way that the separateness of the spaces is reduced forming a

holistic interior. The whole space is filled with different levels and the ceiling of one space

becomes the wall of another (the ceiling of the horizontal tubing acts as the wall of the display

area).

Figure 3: A sectional view of the store

5
 A STATEMENT ON HOW PRADA IS TRYING TO ALTER THE PACE OF SHOPPING EXPERIENCE THROUGH
EXPERIMENTING WITH FUTURISTIC INTERIORS

4. INTRODUCTION TO FUTURISTIC DESIGN

The term „Futuristic design‟ gained momentum from the 20th century art and social movement

called „Futurism‟, when united Italy inclined towards advancements in technology, machinery,

high speed and role of youth in society. The degree of fascination can be observed in Italian poet

Marinetti‟s (1909) „Manifesto of Futurism‟, where he addressed people, “We affirm that the

world‟s magnificence has been enriched by a new beauty: the beauty of speed. A racing car

whose hood is adorned with great pipes, like serpents of explosive breath—a roaring car that

seems to ride on grapeshot is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace” (Shree, 2018)

The adaption of futuristic design approach in interiors has resulted in stunning iconic designs,

incredible facilities and interactive environments with the use of latest technology.

5. DESIGN ELEMENTS IN PRADA AOYAMA TOKYO

SUPPORTING FUTURISTIC DESIGN PRINCIPLES

 Use of Parametric Shape Design

Parametric design is a process based on algorithmic thinking that enables the

expression of parameters and rules that, together, define, encode and clarify the

relationship between design

intent and design response.

(Shree, 2018) Designers have

been inspired by the complex

details in nature and the

technological advancements have

helped them to experiment with

6
A STATEMENT ON HOW PRADA IS TRYING TO ALTER THE PACE OF SHOPPING EXPERIENCE THROUGH
EXPERIMENTING WITH FUTURISTIC INTERIORS

these forms to innovate their design process. Prada store is a visual example of these

experiments. From the beehive shaped steel grids forming both a structural skin and a

glazing façade to the smooth fluid design of the transparent displays with inbuilt

LEDs and the horizontal tubing is an evidence of the above statement.

 Dynamic Movement

This element falls in the explanation of „the ability to be transformable based on a

change or the needs of the beneficiaries.‟ The „Snorkels’ in the store is a unique

example and combination of art design and technology. Also, the floating checkout

counters are long white rectangles suspended from the ceiling by three steel arms on

each end, “falling down from above like stalactites in a cave”.

Figure 7: Snorkels – an aquatic inspiration Figure 8: Floating checkout counters

7
A STATEMENT ON HOW PRADA IS TRYING TO ALTER THE PACE OF SHOPPING EXPERIENCE THROUGH
EXPERIMENTING WITH FUTURISTIC INTERIORS

 High Tech Design

Futuristic interiors deliver the essence of change, motion, subtlety, and flexibility

through the innovative and streamline design. Japan is famous for incorporating high

tech industry and technology into building design and interiors. Therefore, in the

Aoyama store the viewers, both inside and outside the building, can see constantly

changing pictures and cinematographic perspectives of the Prada products. Also, the

Snorkels act as Prada iPads to view slideshows of the recent collections, and are

sensor-activated. Some of the snorkels are listed as “sound showers” which plays

relaxing, modern music. The most exciting high-tech feature of the store is the

transparent changing rooms which can be blurred out with a touch of a button on the

floor to maintain the required privacy of the users.

Figure 9: Changing room located between the second and third floor

 Surreal Concoction of Reality and Fiction

Romany Williams, a stylist and editor at SSENSE states about her third floor

experience as, “I realize that I feel like I‟m in Area X—Jeff Vandermeer‟s

8
A STATEMENT ON HOW PRADA IS TRYING TO ALTER THE PACE OF SHOPPING EXPERIENCE THROUGH
EXPERIMENTING WITH FUTURISTIC INTERIORS

psychedelic and sinister jungle from his best-selling

series of novels The Southern Reach Trilogy. The

store is the mysterious living maze, and I‟m the

scientist, drawn deeper inside by an insatiable

curiosity”.

Both the exterior and the interior of this building has

a lot of enigmatic design features. Like the hyper-

modern façade layered with hundreds of convex,

concave and flat glass panes creates a sort of distorted view of the outside which is an

illustration of the illusory truth effect.

Also, the “fitting tube” (narrow mezzanine with changing rooms) which at first

glance seem to be lacking the basic anthropometric measures which turns out to be a

premature assessment as it opens up into a spacious changing room.

H&deM designed the whole store very carefully

so that the user reminds of keep questioning

things and experience the journey of imagination

and fantasy all side by side through the

amalgamation of future and present, edgy and

fluid, the use of materials that are either hyper-artificial like resin, silicon, fiberglass

and hyper-natural like leather, moss or porous planks of wood. Such contrasting

materials prevent fixed stylistic classifications of the site, allowing both traditional

and radically contemporary aspects to appear as self-evident and equal components of

today‟s global culture. (HERZOG & DE MEURON, 2017)

9
A STATEMENT ON HOW PRADA IS TRYING TO ALTER THE PACE OF SHOPPING EXPERIENCE THROUGH
EXPERIMENTING WITH FUTURISTIC INTERIORS

CONCLUSION

With the changing structure of the global retail market, high end brands are uniting

with architects and interior designers to create an interactive and futuristic experience

as advertising for communicating the brand. In this case, Miuccia Prada trusted

H&deM to translate her conceptuality into a small universe of the store itself, and to

make her consumers believe that that the future is good..with Prada products in it.

And it is rightly done by the designers by creating a Barbarella effect with the white

wool rugs, rubbery silicone fixtures and fur-covered clothes racks. The sequence of

animations projected onto the tubes “like the heartbeat of a living creature”, and the

tubes adding a surreal feeling that this is no store but a trip through unfolding

origami, a trip to the future of luxury.

10
A STATEMENT ON HOW PRADA IS TRYING TO ALTER THE PACE OF SHOPPING EXPERIENCE THROUGH
EXPERIMENTING WITH FUTURISTIC INTERIORS

References

Nilufer Saglar Onay, 2015, Interiors Seeking a New Design Language, THE

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARCHITECTONIC, SPATIAL, AND

ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN, Volume 8, Issue 2, pp. 21-29.

Iovine, J. V. (2003, June 22). ART/ARCHITECTURE; Forget the Clothes; Prada‟s

Latest Design Isn‟t for Sale.

https://www.nytimes.com

Orazi, M. (2018, May 23). Jacques Herzog “We design for people”.

https://www.klatmagazine.com/

Arroyo Alba, P. P. (2003, Oct 24). PRADA Tokyo. Architecture is Architecture.

http://architettura.it/

Farhan Asim and Venu Shree, 2018, A Century of Futurist Architecture: from

Theory to Reality, Journal of Civil Engineering and Environmental Technology,

Volume 5, Issue 6, pp. 339-343

Dr. Hala Hassanein, Utilization of “Multiple Kinetic Technology KT” in Interior

11
A STATEMENT ON HOW PRADA IS TRYING TO ALTER THE PACE OF SHOPPING EXPERIENCE THROUGH
EXPERIMENTING WITH FUTURISTIC INTERIORS

Architecture Design as Concept of Futuristic Innovation, International Journal on:

The Academic Research Community Publication.

Sardy, M. (2018, Nov 20). Futuristic Architecture; Essential Principles that Make it.

https://outsourceplan.com/

Marburgh. J. (2017, Jan 30). HERZOG & DE MEURON

PRADA AOYAMA.

https://divisare.com/

Schittich, C. (2012). Building Skins (2nd ed.).

Walter de Gruyter.

Acharya, L. (2013). FLEXIBLE ARCHITECTURE FOR THE DYNAMIC SOCIETIES

Reflection on a Journey from the 20th Century into the Future.

(Master‟s thesis in Art History). University of Tromsø, Norway.

William, R. USER EXPERIENCE: PRADA AOYAMA TOKYO.

https://www.ssense.com/

Barrie, A. (2003, June 15). PRADA AOYAMA Home of conspicuous construction.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/

12