Authors
Aitor Mtz. de Zuazo Blanca San Vicente Igor Zorrakin
Place: Vitoria-Gasteiz , Spain
Photo Credits: Blanca San Vicente
Usanza Concept Store
The “L” shaped, client demands, and local rules that didn´t give us freedom to act on the façade were the main tasks to start with. A new way of thinking to unify the whole concept. The only free space to work was the ceiling and the furniture should be designed the same way, so everything would give a global sense of space. For the ceiling we work for a surface that could change in shape, height and ambience, so could look different depending on the place you were looking at, on the natural light, night light, and a technical lighting towards the clothes. We had to find an opaque surface that could change heights, directions and another permeable one place on the other, that could reflect the interior lighting of the roof into a mutant surface, that changed in colour and transparency depending on the place you are on the shop. Like an artificial fly eye. Then the task to find the better way for each furniture that shouldn´t break the spatial and lighting concept ruled by the ceiling. Each furniture seems to move with the ceiling, so even they have a specific function they are all in relation with it. The clothing system of tshirts, jackets and so on, must be versatile depending on the length and on the seasons. So we need 4 different heights to adapt that demand. The trousers furniture, must leave half of it to be shown, while a continuous folding surface serves to put accessories, and grows from a transparent case for accessories and at the end it transforms into a sit, to relax or to put on the shoes. The shoes furniture must be moveable as behind it covers the electric and lighting panels, and also registered to change the back lighting. Then the shoes are placed in different ways on moving shelves, so the client has freedom to show them the way he wants. Finally the main entrance and cash place is a kind of transparent cantilevered jewellery showcase that hides a small office and archive furniture. Thanks to the spatial continuity, the uniqueness of each piece of furniture, flexibility, and a complex lighting system the shop becomes a sensorial experience
