Architects Heurzog & De Meuron (of Tate Modern Fame) have created a Xanadu-like building for Prada Toyko.
“This building is about light and about public space and about cheering you up in a sensual, simple way,” Mr. Herzog said. “They hired us in order to get something they didn’t expect” in the NY TImes.
“A bubble-wrapped crystalline extravaganza, the store stands in a paved courtyard in the Aoyama district, already well known for over-the-top commercial spaces. The building’s off-kilter rhomboid shape has been compared by the architects to a child’s drawing of a house or to a bursa, the knotted leather sack used in medieval times to hold precious jewels. And it does seem firmly lodged between architecture and bauble.”
Photos via archinect:
http://www.dezain.net/2003/prada/index.html
More Archinect Photos:
Interior, small room
Interior, small room 2
Interior, small room 3
Interior, up stairs
Interior, up stairs 2
Interior, up stairs to corner
Interior, down stairs/ceiling
Interior, showroom
Interior, showroom 2
Exterior
Exterior 2
