DDi - July 2012 - (Page 66)

66 | Right Light Painting with light Artistic lighting replicates a classic European villa for China’s Elegant Prosper By Vilma Barr he distinctive new three-level building on West Lake Street in Hangzhou, China, fits in seamlessly with the similar architectural styles of its neighboring single-family villas. It isn’t, however, a residence. Rather, the 5,608sq-.ft. building is the latest concept store for the 515-store chain Elegant Prosper. Management of Elegant Prosper Garment—the Sino-Italian company that designs, produces and distributes the Elegant Prosper and Elena Miro T brands of women’s clothing in China—selected Hangzhou as the site for its new Elegant Prosper store image. The urban center’s residents are characterized by a sophisticated aesthetic level that the firm’s decision-makers were confident would respond to Copenhagen-based architect and interior designer David Thulstrup’s signature design, which integrates architecture, merchandise and lighting. His firm was responsible for the custom furniture, display fixtures and lighting. Thulstrup’s premise for the store was to give it the same grandeur and luxury image as retail storefronts on Milan’s via Montenapoleone or Madison Avenue in New York. He worked with architects Jean Nouvel in Paris and Peter Marino in New York to position two rows of exterior uplight fixtures that subtly elongate the façade’s visual impression. The exterior also boasts an illuminated show window and entryway identified by a glowing, back-lit silhouetted “EP” sign with “Elegant Prosper” spelled out beneath. Thulstrup turned the second level’s ceiling into an illuminated art installation by covering it with suspended white plastic plaques. A concealed light source paints an even layer of light above the installation positioned over the selling floor, adding dimension to the merchandise displays, the reflective, polished-metal tables and the black, fabric-covered upholstered seating pieces. A double-height area between the top and middle levels is a sculptural showcase for an open staircase and geometric cut-outs in the ceiling above. Daylighting from semi-opaque skylights mixes with color-balanced illumination from recessed fixtures to create a distinctive environment for mannequins grouped on the stairway and poised on the exposed cross beams above. Strip lighting is utilized to create overhead frames for the cut-outs, for the wall racks for hanging merchandise with openings illuminated at ceiling and floor levels, and for the wall-mounted shelving displaying handbags and shoes. Internal accent lighting punctuates the recessed accessory case on the wall flanking the staircase. Under consideration by Elegant Proper is a 10,765-sq.-ft. store in Beijing, its next step in gaining international leadership status in the worldwide fashion scene. To email this article, visit www.ddionline.com/magazine. | Photos: Peter Krasilnikoff July 2012 www.ddionline.com http://www.ddionline.com/magazine http://www.ddionline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DDi - July 2012

DDi - July 2012
Contents
From the Editor
From the Show Director
Newsworthy
Shopper Insights
Greentailing
Editor’s Choice
Design Snapshot
El Palacio de Hierro
Global Department Store Summit
Liverpool
Neiman Marcus
State of the Fixture Industry Roundtable
2012 Fixture Leaders listing
2012 Fixture Leaders company index
Fixture Products
Right Light
Product Spotlight
Calendar
Advertisers
Classifieds
Think Tank

DDi - July 2012