Innovative privacy. Dolce & Gabbana boutique Seoul by Ateliers Jean Nouvel
28/02/2021.
[Gangnam-gu - Seoul] South Korea
metalocus, ELENA FIGUEROA FALCÓN
metalocus, ELENA FIGUEROA FALCÓN
Description of project by Jean Nouvel
In Seoul, an imposing and precious glass encasing preserves and yet reveals extraordinary treasures of fine craftsmanship: the new Dolce&Gabbana boutique at Cheongdam-dong, in the Gangnam District, is an architectural ode to the encounter between love for tradition and ceaseless innovation.
Dolce&Gabbana inaugurates an important flagship store choosing the unmistakable signature of Jean Nouvel, with whom Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana had already cooperated on the occasion of an exhibition staged at Palazzo Della Ragione in Milan in 2009.
Created in synergy with the Ateliers Jean Nouvel studios for the architectural design and Jean Nouvel Design for the interiors, the building is located in the main luxury retail street of Seoul and is characterized externally by the evanescence of its volumes, which redesign the district’s profile.
A cylinder of extra-clear glass, set between four corner pillars made of black granite, offers the city an overall view of the Dolce&Gabbana Collections preserved within it, thanks to the large convex glass facades on two sides of the building. The light transparency of the glass and the intense black, a symbol of absolute elegance, chase each other in a game of mutual references that moves from the outside into the heart of the store.
Surprising and attractive, the interior of the boutique develops on a single large spiral ramp, clad in mosaic Nero Marquina marble, which seamlessly connects the different floors, thus offering a special and unique visiting experience. The visitor is invited to be carried upwards by this vortex to discover the Dolce&Gabbana Collections, which are enhanced, floor by floor, by a captivating lighting system.
The interior design is minimalist and dominated by the use of black in its countless shades and finishes: glossy black glass, gray concrete, and black anodized aluminum interact with the warm and refined nuances of mango wood, thus recreating a welcoming and sophisticated environment, suitable to host Dolce&Gabbana creations. The main display system, which extends over the entire spiral ramp, is obtained by the use of a succession of modular elements to which shelves and rods are affixed at different heights: the result is an evocative swirl of objects that appear to float following the direction of the spiral slab. Corners and loggias created inside the black granite volumes offer additional spaces for displaying products and intimate dressing areas.
The experience continues on the terrace: the lounge welcomes guests in an environment with a strong contemporary feel, surmounted by a large semi-circular canopy, the ideal completion of the spiral ramp that dominates the entire building. The furnishings, the elegant black metal seats, and the sinuous granite bar counter contribute to making the space the ultimate destination for unforgettable moments of conviviality and relaxation.
The boutique hosts the Ready to Wear, Accessories, Fine Jewellery, and Watches Collection for Women and Man and the Made to Measure service by Dolce&Gabbana Sartoria.
Jean Nouvel, (born August 12, 1945) is a French architect. Nouvel studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and was a founding member of Mars 1976 and Syndicat de l'Architecture. He has obtained a number of prestigious distinctions over the course of his career, including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (technically, the prize was awarded for the Institut du Monde Arabe which Nouvel designed), the Wolf Prize in Arts in 2005 and the Pritzker Prize in 2008.
Nouvel was awarded the Pritzker Prize, architecture's highest honour, in 2008, for his work on more than 200 projects, among them, in the words of The New York Times, the "exotically louvered" Arab World Institute, the bullet-shaped and "candy-colored" Torre Agbar in Barcelona, the "muscular" Guthrie Theater with its cantilevered bridge in Minneapolis, and in Paris, the "defiant, mysterious and wildly eccentric" Musée du quai Branly (2006) and the Philharmonie de Paris (a "trip into the unknown" c. 2012).
Pritzker points to several more major works: in Europe, the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art (1994), the Culture and Convention Center in Lucerne (2000), the Opéra Nouvel in Lyon (1993) , Expo 2002 in Switzerland and, under construction, the Copenhagen Concert Hall and the courthouse in Nantes (2000); as well as two tall towers in planning in North America, Tour Verre in New York City and a cancelled condominium tower in Los Angeles. International cultural projects such as the Abu Dhabi Louvre, the Philharmonic Hall in Paris, the Qatar National Museum in Doha, or the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2010 in London.
In its citation, the jury of the Pritzker prize noted:
Of the many phrases that might be used to describe the career of architect Jean Nouvel, foremost are those that emphasize his courageous pursuit of new ideas and his challenge of accepted norms in order to stretch the boundaries of the field. [...] The jury acknowledged the ‘persistence, imagination, exuberance, and, above all, an insatiable urge for creative experimentation’ as qualities abundant in Nouvel’s work.
Among his principal completed projects, we find the Arab World Institute in Paris, the Cartier Foundation and the Quai Branly museum in Paris, the Culture and Congress Center KKL in Lucerne, the extension of the Queen Sofia Arts Center in Madrid, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, the Philharmonic of Paris…
Among the projects currently under studies or under construction: the “53W53, Tour de Verre” integrating the extension of the MoMA galleries in New York, the residential towers “Le Nouvel” in Kuala Lumpur, “Anderson 18” and “Ardmore” in Singapore and “Rosewood” in São Paulo, the office towers “Hekla” and “Duo” in Paris, the cultural complex “The Artists’ Garden” in Qingdao or the National Art Museum of China NAMOC in Beijing… The design of the Louvre Abu Dhabi began in 2006 with Jean Nouvel’s Partner Architect Hala Wardé.