Off-White™ and its parent company, The New Guards Group, launch of the label’s flagship Miami store.

Located at 127 NE 41 Street, in the heart of the city’s dynamic and expanding Design District, the bi-floor space has been designed by Off-White’s founder and creative director, Virgil Abloh together with AMO, led by Samir Bantal, research arm of architecture firm OMA.

The flagship store to be a fulfilment centre, cafe and a multipurpose events space, that can host a runway fashion show or art show. Abloh and Bantal  designed the store to rethink how physical shops should operate amid the growing popularity of digital shopping.
The collaboration between Abloh and AMO represents an ongoing dialogue between the two that was sparked by thejointly developed exhibition Figures of Speech.  

The property holds a number of distinct aesthetic markers, including an opaque polycarbonate facade. Through this exterior layer, Off-White’s new visual marker—a pair of hands extended upward—is visible above a bright orange “X,” another of the brand’s signatures.

SH❌OP.
The ‘X’ overlays the word ‘SHOP’ indicating that this is not simply a shop. Instead Abloh and AMO developed a platform for Off-White’s diverse identity, driven by Abloh’s multidisciplinary engagement. The ‘X’ results from the ongoing endeavor of Abloh and AMO to redefine the world of Off-White™ retail, which is driven by questions such as: What is the role of a shop in today’s tech driven, social media focused society?

The flagship store explores the idea of the modern fulfillment center, by offering visitors a physical community space for interaction and brand engagement. The multiplicity of activities and experiences to be explored, is facilitated by the flexibility of the space. A floor to ceiling movable wall, serves as a secondary façade, that can be pushed back inviting the public street into the brand’s perimeter. As such, a public space is created to host a variety of functions, such as public art display, mini catwalks and musical performance. The first floor’s flexible floorplan creates moments for more intimate and exclusive engagement with the world of Off-White™.

Befitting Miami and its warm temperatures, the floors are rendered in concrete, which helps in keeping the interior from overheating and are lightly stained. Shelving is done in stainless steel; rails in black marquina and white Carrara marble. Corrugated metal walls, mesh ceiling panels and tubular ceiling lights amplify Off-White’s industrial-blank canvas impression, referencing ‘fulfillment center’ esthetics, while a centerpiece staircase—finished in an electric blue—pays an unexpected, striking nod to the Magic City’s famed history of neon color.

In total, the Miami flagship will feature 262 square meters (2,820 square feet) of space, across two floors. Always seeking to merge fashion with art and pubic activities, Abloh has included a 1 square meter (441 square feet) stock room in his store, that will be visible to passersby and shoppers through a completely transparent glass wall that is recessed within the building. To that point, the Miami flagship will also feature customizable elements in its layout and framework, with transformative fixtures that can rapidly change a retail floor into a multi-use event platform. All of the store’s furniture—custom made in Italy for Off-White™—features wheels, for easier rearrangement. Flexibility is key.

Upon opening, Off-White’s Miami location will feature two artworks; “DOLLAR A GALLON III” by Abloh, and “ROLLER” by Mark Jenkins, as commissioned by Abloh. The sparsity of the space—and its modularity—will permit for a rotating roster of works that will go on display, in accordance with event programming, product collection releases, capsule drops, and more.
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Design
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Off-White’s founder and creative director, Virgil Abloh together with AMO, led by Samir Bantal.
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Area
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262 square meters (2,820 square feet).
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Dates
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2020.
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Location
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Located at 127 NE 41 Street. Miami, USA.
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AMO is the think tank of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), co-founded by Rem Koolhaas in 1999. Applying architectural thinking to domains beyond building, AMO has worked with Prada, the European Union, Universal Studios, Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, Condé Nast, Harvard University, and the Hermitage. It has produced exhibitions, including Expansion and Neglect (2005) and When Attitudes Become Form: Bern 1969/Venice 2013 (2013) at the Venice Biennale; The Gulf (2006), Cronocaos (2010), Public Works (2012), and Elements of Architecture (2014) at the Venice Architecture Biennale; and Serial Classics and Portable Classics (both 2015) at Fondazione Prada, Milan and Venice, respectively.

AMO often works in parallel with OMA's clients to fertilize architecture with intelligence from this array of disciplines. This is the case with Prada: AMO's research into identity, in-store technology, and new possibilities of content-production in fashion helped generate OMA's architectural designs for new Prada epicenter stores in New York and Los Angeles. In 2004, AMO was commissioned by the European Union to study its visual communication, and designed a coloured "barcode" flag – combining the flags of all member states – that was used during the Austrian presidency of the EU.

AMO has worked with Universal Studios, Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, Heineken, Ikea, Condé Nast, Harvard University and the Hermitage. It has produced exhibitions at the Venice Architecture Biennale, including The Gulf (2006), Cronocaos (2010) and Public Works (2012) and for Fondazione Prada including When Attitudes Become Form (2012) and Serial and Portable Classics (2015). AMO, with Harvard University, was responsible for the research and curation of the 14th Venice Architecture Biennale and its principle publication Elements. Other notable projects are a plan for a Europe-wide renewable energy grid; Project Japan, a 720-page book on the Metabolism architecture movement (Taschen, 2010); and the educational program of Strelka Institute in Moscow.
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Virgil Abloh. (b. September 30, 1980 / November 28, 2021) The Illinois-born designer, 38, has been creating fashion, objects, furniture, graphic works, painting, sculpture and photography for the last 20 years. He is the artistic director of Louis Vuitton's men's wear collection since March 2018. Apart from his work at Louis Vuitton, Abloh serves as the chief executive officer of the Milan-based label Off-White, a fashion house he founded in 2013. He has designed pieces for other renowned brands such as Pioneer, IKEA and Nike.

Abloh became a household name after working on creative direction for Kanye West’s DONDA firm, where he collaborated with the musician on album covers, concert designs and merchandising. Abloh’s attraction to music has led him to professionally DJ at prestigious venues and festivals around the world, such as Lollapalooza and Coachella.
 
Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2018. Abloh was featured in conversation with his friend and frequent collaborator Takashi Murakami on the cover of the fall 2018 issue of Cultured magazine.

Virgil Abloh passed away at the age of 41 after a two-year battle with cancer.
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Samir Bantal is the director of AMO, the think- tank founded by Rem Koolhaas in 1998, which enables OMA to apply its architectural thinking beyond architecture, to the fields of design, technology, media and art.

Samir Bantal rejoined OMA in 2015 after working at the office between 2003 and 2007 on a number of projects ranging from product design, research, architecture and master planning. Samir was involved in the Image of Europe, an exhibition on the history and meaning of the European Union, rebranding the European flag. He worked on a new proposal for the Shanghai Expo of 2010, a master plan for Riga Port City and several exhibitions for the Venice Biennale. He was project architect of the Ras Al Khaimah master plan (2006) and Jebel Al Jais Resort (2006). Samir also contributed to a number of publications by AMO, such as Project Japan (2011) and Al Manakh I (2007).

Before joining OMA, Samir worked for Toyo Ito, and was associate professor at Delft Univeristy of Technology in the fields of architecture and urbanism. Between 2008-2012 he was editor of the Annual Architecture Yearbook of the Netherlands.

Currently, Samir is responsible for the new retail concept for the luxury car brand Genesis in Seoul, Korea. Also with AMO, Samir is currently working on 3 exhibitions. In Qatar, AMO explores the role of modern architecture in the development of the city of Doha, opening March 2019. Together with the Harvard School of Design, Samir leads Countryside, a comprehensive research project that investigates the interaction between the city and the countryside, which will culminate in an exhibition in the Guggenheim in New York early 2020. Lastly, ‘Figures of Speech’ will show at the MCA Chicago in June 2019. The design of the exhibition, a retrospective on the work of renown designer Virgil Abloh, is a collaboration between Samir and Virgil Abloh.

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Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) is an international practice operating within the traditional boundaries of architecture and urbanism. AMO, a research and design studio, applies architectural thinking to domains beyond. OMA is led by eight partners – Rem Koolhaas, Reinier de Graaf, Ellen van Loon, Shohei Shigematsu, Iyad Alsaka, Chris van Duijn, Jason Long, and Managing Partner-Architect David Gianotten – and maintains offices in Rotterdam, New York, Hong Kong, Doha, and Australia. OMA-designed buildings currently under construction are the renovation of Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe) in Berlin, The Factory in Manchester, Hangzhou Prism, the CMG Times Center in Shenzhen and the Simone Veil Bridge in Bordeaux.

OMA’s completed projects include Taipei Performing Arts Centre (2022), Audrey Irmas Pavilion in Los Angeles (2020), Norra Tornen in Stockholm (2020), Axel Springer Campus in Berlin (2020), MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre (2020), Galleria in Gwanggyo (2020), WA Museum Boola Bardip (2020), nhow RAI Hotel in Amsterdam (2020), a new building for Brighton College (2020), and Potato Head Studios in Bali (2020). Earlier buildings include Fondazione Prada in Milan (2018), Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow (2015), De Rotterdam (2013), CCTV Headquarters in Beijing (2012), Casa da Música in Porto (2005), and the Seattle Central Library (2004).

AMO often works in parallel with OMA's clients to fertilize architecture with intelligence from this array of disciplines. This is the case with Prada: AMO's research into identity, in-store technology, and new possibilities of content-production in fashion helped generate OMA's architectural designs for new Prada epicenter stores in New York and Los Angeles. In 2004, AMO was commissioned by the European Union to study its visual communication, and designed a colored "barcode" flag, combining the flags of all member states, which was used during the Austrian presidency of the EU. AMO has worked with Universal Studios, Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, Heineken, Ikea, Condé Nast, Harvard University and the Hermitage. It has produced Countryside: The Future, a research exhibited at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York; exhibitions at the Venice Architecture Biennale, including Public Works (2012), Cronocaos (2010), and The Gulf (2006); and for Fondazione Prada, including When Attitudes Become Form (2012) and Serial and Portable Classics (2015). AMO, with Harvard University, was responsible for the research and curation of the 14th Venice Architecture Biennale and its publication Elements. Other notable projects are Roadmap 2050, a plan for a Europe-wide renewable energy grid; Project Japan, a 720-page book on the Metabolism architecture movement (Taschen, 2010); and the educational program of Strelka Institute in Moscow.

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Published on: August 27, 2020
Cite: "SH❌OP opening. Off-White Miami c/o Virgil Abloh™ in collaboration with AMO" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/shop-opening-white-miami-co-virgil-ablohtm-collaboration-amo> ISSN 1139-6415
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