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no. 2
2013
new perspectives on retail lighting solutions
trend issue
STORY-TELLING IN RETAIL
Catharina Frankander about the
spellbinding ‘Monki’ shop concept
Eye-catching
brand personalities
Nike, Solo, M&M's
INTERVIEW:
TREND
INSIGHTS:
The promising architect Sigurd
Larsen made Zalando ‘Pop’
THE ‘TREND GURUS’ DAVID R. SHAH AND
TOM SAVIGAR ABOUT WHAT LIES AHEAD
EMPORIA COVERAGE
RETAILMENT + pop up
product news
Keeping up with the
retail industry
today’s retail world is a challenging arena for
business. The relationship between consumers and
brands is constantly evolving. Why? Because consumers are changing, and changing fast. They are more
confident, more demanding and more dynamic than
ever before - and it’s increasingly hard to keep up. Yet
for those who can look beyond today, this changing
landscape opens up many opportunities.
We have decided to devote this issue of Innova-
tor to the trends and interesting tendencies prevalent
in the retail market; a strong focus on experiences,
pop-up evolvement, story-telling and so on. We will
also follow a few examples of personalities and retail
brands who are at the forefront of these trends and
have successfully captured new opportunities.
The rapid expansion of digital and mobile tech-
nology has radically changed consumers’ relationship
with brands and the way we shop. This, in combination with a more demanding and confident audience,
puts pressure on retail brands to sharpen and extend
their offering. Today a multi-channel mixed platform
is vital to engage the target group. And more than
ever, the physical store is used as a brand carrying
experience. Light affects people and our goal is to
evoke feelings that result in greater shopping experiences.
At Fagerhult we spend significant time under-
standing consumer trends and customer needs. Innovation is our future and present, we base our innovation work on a visionary and conceptual outlook and
solid insight platforms. A lot of insight also comes
from collaboration with our customers and a network
of people within and outside our industry. It’s exciting
to follow the development in the retail business, and
we see great opportunities ahead.
Hope you enjoy!
Sofia Rudbeck
Business Area Director – Fagerhult Retail
publisher:
Fagerhult Retail AB
Rinnavägen 12, SE 517 33, Bollebygd, Sweden
Phone: +46 33 722 15 00
Fax: +46 33 28 58 00
www.fagerhult.com/retail
editorial:
Camilla Hult, [email protected]
Katarina Morén, [email protected]
Scott Allen, scott. [email protected],
Fran Pearce & Jill Entwistle
graphic design:
Katarina Morén
cover:
photography/
Michael Brus | http://michaelbrusstudio.com
// 38
Hypermarché - a warehouse like no other.
In this issue
NO. 2, 2013
INTRO
Visions of the future
Trend insights 2013
THE "RETAILMENT" TREND
Retail as entertainment
Escapism and surprise
4
PRODUCT NEWS
Products for enhanced atmospheres
New signature luminaires
Creative creation
Using luminaires for increased identity
50
10
A world of spellbinding sceneries
Catharina Frankander interview
12
Westfield London
The Olympic legacy
18
Entering the M&M's World
A sweet attraction
22
More than just shopping
Emporia, a powerful shopping experience
24
RETAIL CONCEPTS
They Just Do It
Nike and their shop concepts
Fusing past and present
Solo, grasping the heritage of denim
ABOUT LIGHT AND MORE
Illuminating Emporia
Black Light Design interview
The architects of tomorrow
What are their views of light?
THE "POP-UP" TREND
Portable formats in retail
The emergence of pop-up
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52
56
60
64
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A natural & honest shop experience
Sigurd Larson made Zalando ‘Pop’
32
A warehouse like no other
Shopping and events under one roof
38
Pop-Up 2.0
Boxpark - introducing pop-up malls
42
the innovator
x4
Visions of
the future
Meet David R. Shah and Tom Savigar - two
prominent trend specialists sharing inspiring
insights of tomorrow´s reality.
text katarina morén
visions about the future
5
"The problem is that people seem to
find more joy in thinking about the
past than they do in reflecting on the
present or anticipating the future."
David R. Shah, View Publications
David R.Shah.
Tom Savigar.
there are many of us that would like to
forecast tomorrow’s consumer landscape and the brand attitudes that follow; to see how today reality is shaping
the premises of the future. Harnessing
this power would make it far easier for
brands to set a clear direction of strategy and take it to new heights.
So what is hiding in the blurred shadows of the future? The haze started to
clear during the Swedish trend agency
ColourHouse’s annual market strategy
seminar for retail, brands and communi-
cators across all lifestyle industries.
On stage were the energetic David
R. Shah, the Publisher and owner of
‘View Publications’. Boasting extensive
experience and an international reputation, David is renowned for identifying
the upcoming consumer behaviours
and brands attitudes for the years to
come. Additionally, Tom Savigar, Director
and Partner at the London based trend
agency ‘The Future Laboratory’ accompanied him to share his views of the
future and other consumer insights.
The speakers of the day:
David R. Shah is the publisher and owner
of View Publications and editor in chief
of the incorporated magazines; Textile
View, View2, Viewpoint and PantoneView
Colour Planner. David works as a consultant with many large brands and has
widespread experience and international
reputation for clearly identifying upcoming consumer behaviour and brand
attitudes for the years to come.
Tom Savigar, is the director and
partner of the trend institute “The Future
Laboratory”. The Future Laboratory is recognised internationally for its innovative
approach to trend forecasting, consumer
insight and brand strategy and serve
clients in the retail, technology, finance,
automotive, food, fashion and creative
industries.
x6
"What’s interesting about nostalgia is
that, although it peaks in middle age, it
also appeals to all generations.
David R. Shah, View Publications
>>
was it really better before?
David pinpoints the rise of a nostalgic
era in which, despite of astonishing
progresses in astrophysics, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence etc, we tend
to keep looking back. Wherever we go,
the feeling for vintage and nostalgia
pervades everything from product development to marketing.
Soaps, perfumes and cosmetics
are amongst the most common retrodesigned products. Museums are full of
nostalgia-fed exhibitions and reminiscent films like The Artist, The Help,
Wallis Simpson and Moonrise Kingdom
have been the great cinematic hits of
the past year. On the music scene, we
have just celebrated the Rolling Stone’s
50 Years of Rock and someone even
resurrected 2Pac in hologram form.
discontent of the present
In the book, Nostalgia: Sanctuary of
Meaning, sociology professor, Janelle
Wilson, argues that the current dominance of retro is ‘largely to do with
dissatisfaction with the present’. This is
especially true in recent years, with global economic problems, continued wars
and conflicts, and even the rapid speed
of technological advancements, there is
a sense of comfort in nostalgia. Janelle
claims “We feel nostalgic, when we find
that the present is somehow lacking.”
The recession has triggered a new desire
amongst consumers to save more and
think before they spend. With this has
come a surge in a ‘mend it and fix it’
approach leading not only to a new
lease of life for repair shops, but also a
boom in charity shops selling second
hand clothing and other items.
“What’s interesting about nostalgia
is that, although it peaks in middle age,
it also appeals to all generations. For
example, today’s youth is just as fascinated by pop idols created in the 1960s
as the ‘Boomers’ themselves and is as
caught up by the re-launch of Dallas as
many of us were, when it first came out
in 1978,” David Shah argues.
“We are even seeing a generational thirst for ideas, images, graphics
and digital moments resonant of the
early days of the Internet from bitmap
colours and 8-bit music to ‘Game Boy’
art and design,” he continues.
losing sight of the future?
Undeniably, nostalgia can be described
as ‘a luxury of modern life’. To indulge
in nostalgia, you need leisure time,
something that modern technology
has given us more of. This very same
digital technology that has freed up our
time, makes the past easily accessible
and almost impossible to ignore. But
this fascination of ‘looking back’ has its
pitfalls; beyond a lack of originality we
tend to lose sight of the future.
“The problem is that people seem to
find more joy in thinking about the past
than they do in reflecting on the present
or anticipating the future,” David Shah
explains.
Despite this he believes marketers
will always continue to plug in the
past, either in a real or implied sense.
This stems from the fact that currently
an ‘as good as it’s always been’ is a
more powerful message than ‘new
and improved’. Therefore, an effective
approach is reviving old rituals – but
with a twist.
“Research tells us that consumers
develop lifelong preferences for particular product styles during key periods
of their lives. For example, people
always seem to like the music or cars
that were popular during their young
adulthood,” David continues.
David predicts that we will see
more micro and less macro thinking,
as companies move away from big
corporate profiling to connect with
communities or art, literature and the
cinema. He also anticipates a greater
emphasis on storytelling and less of the
polished corporate brand. The brands
that have a story to tell and a heritage
will focus on this with their communications. And, when it comes to retail, it’s
key to reinterpret the traditional retail
experience, reviving the best products
and emphasising a history.
David is also quick to grasp the
positive sides of nostalgia and reflecting
over the past;
“When it comes to product design,
the nostalgic does not mean re-inventing the wheel. Good designers are
finding ways of bringing very new interpretations to old things and innovation
to established methods of manufacturing, thereby developing opportunities
that were previously unseen,” David
concludes.
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x8
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"Consumers of today want
escapism, narrative and wonder.
They also, increasingly, want to
be part of the story."
Tom Savigar, The Future Laboratory
>>
fairy tale fiction
This nostalgic longing for the postmodern and refuge from the present
leads us in to another escape - the
escape of reality. Tom Savigar, from The
Future Laboratory, debates for a more
widespread ‘faction landscape’ (fact +
fiction). Spoiled by the transparency culture of the web and bored by austerity,
he reasons that consumers are captured
by back-stories and fairy tales, which,
when blurred with the real and the fake,
take on a life of their own.
“This trend reveals a shift in marketing campaigns as brands embrace
fictional characters, storytelling, social
platforms and viral campaigns that
blend story with reality. They entice and
excite consumers with a 360-degree
multichannel narrative that spills into
the physical world with entire product
“It´s not enough to be straightforward – the consumers of today want
escapism, narrative and wonder. They
also, increasingly, want to be part of the
story”, Tom explains.
“If applied to the physical retail
world this means engaging consumers
with not only theatrical interiors, but
also to surprise them with the odd and
unexpected and to press their emotional buttons. It´s also about making
efforts to converge the real with the
digital to transform these physical spaces into fantastic spheres of differentiation,” he continues.
lines inspired by fictional characters,”
Tom explains.
He also argues for a shift in how
brands will communicate with consumers much more frequently:
bit of fairy dust on its fashion storytelling when creating the ‘Mulberry
monster’ which became incorporated
in not just their runway shows, but
also in their stores. The monsters build
unexpected brand characters
The fashion company Mulberry, known
for their leather goods and particularly
women’s handbags, is a great example
of such an effort. This brand sprinkled a
nests and love to decorate them with
shiny gold things. There's no wonder
that these monsters feel so happy in
the Mulberry world with its giant, shiny
golden padlocks.
Tom concludes that the consequence of ‘faction marketing’ is that we will
see more brands hiring narrators and
novelists assigned to create storylines
that suit’s the brand mission – that is,
initiatives that make facts more exiting
with the guidance of fiction. Also it
is key to open up for co-creation with
devotees and supporters of the brand.
This summary of the topics and
insights discussed during this inspiring
day really showed that there are stories
to be told, of both the past and the imaginary. This insight is as relevant to the
world of retail as it is to interior design,
marketing and fused into a brand strategy.
x
10
"Retailment" inspiration
Prague based architects Edit designed
this space as a multi-functional meeting
point for young people attracted by the
PUMA brand. It combines a concept store
with a cafe serving direct-trade coffee
and homemade cupcakes. For parties or
events the store can be spatially rearranged into a club space.
retail as entertainment
Retail as
entertainment
The convenient digital consumers of today want
escapism, and surprise. We are sure that the physical
retail shop can provide these extraordinary experiences.
text camilla hult
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a fusion of the words retail and
entertainment gives you ‘retailment’ – a
term set for prominence in the future.
The physical shops today are constantly
competing with online alternatives
where the consumers’ purchase is only a
click away. So how will the retailers keep
up with this competition and attract the
shopper’s in-store?
In the future, shopping will not
only be about transactions, it will be
about seeing and experiencing amazing
things. The new generation expects to
be entertained and to visit retail spaces
that encompass both the offline and
online worlds. Fused retail shops are
now appearing, featuring commercial
areas but also music scenes, spas, galleries, barbers and coffee shops all in
the same space. And this is a perfect
way to give the shopper an appealing
360-degree experience.
Increasingly, the retail space is being
viewed as a theatrical scene, taking
brands and retail concepts to new
startling heights. Clever retailers engage
customers with stimulating scenery and
intriguing stories thoroughly narrated
around the brand – they surprise visitors and dare to be unusual and push
our emotional buttons. That is why it is
important to consider every part of the
store and the total retail experience,
from interior to lighting, service and
marketing.
In this magazine we provide
examples of both shopping centres and
stores that have focused on the holistic
experience when creating their retail
environment. Central to this approach
has been placing the experience of the
brand and the total impression before
the traditional way of thinking when
it comes to increasing sales. Brands
will gain more value in putting the
experience of the visitor first, increasing
sales in the longer perspective.
retail as entertainment
x
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a world of spellbinding sceneries
Photo: David Kaijser
13
A world of
spellbinding
sceneries
Once-upon-a-time there was a visionary architect/
design studio that specialised in brand building environments. We met up with Catharina Frankander,
founder of Electric Dreams, who has drawn on her
experience of designing H&M’s Monki stores to shed
some light on how to incorporate great story telling
into an interior that captures passers-by.
text katarina morén | photo fredrik sweger
Monki.
Catharina Frankander & Joel Degermark.
Catharina Frankander
Catharina Frankander is an architect
trained at the Architectural Association,
London and Royal Institute of Technology,
Stockholm. She runs the Stockholm based
architect/design studio “Electric Dreams”
together with Joel Degermark and is also
responsible for the shop design at Monki.
it is an unusually, harsh and snowy
day in the capital of Sweden, Stockholm.
Darkness is descending and people are
struggling to make their way on the
streets. However, on this particular day
the trouble is worthwhile. We are about
to meet up with the architect Catharina
Frankander, founder of the architect/
design studio ‘Electric Dreams’ and
responsible of shop design at the
fashion chain ‘Monki’.
Our destination is one of the many
cosy cafes of Södermalm. Catharina
enters the subtly dimmed café, bursting
with the aroma of roasted coffee beans
and fresh baked bread. She joins us at
our wooden table and, whilst sipping on
her coffee, shares her inspiring journey
with Electric Dreams, strongly focusing
on the innovative Monki project.
Catharina and her partner at Electric Dreams, Joel Degermark, specialise
in brand building environments. Their
design is characterised by story-telling
themes and the fascination of playful
exaggeration, often with strong colours
or other artistic and innovative elements. They have worked with brands
like Weekday, You by Dialect and many
other creative showroom installations.
A project that really epitomises their
approach is the store concepts for the
imaginative brand, Monki.
In fact Monki was Electric Dreams
very first client. Approximately seven
years ago Adam Friberg, founder and
Creative Director of Monki, contacted
Catharina and Joel with a bold vision.
The design studio ‘Vår’ had already created a logotype and a character/ fairytale dubbed ‘Monki world’ but Adam
didn’t want the story to end there. As a
central part of their brand the Monkis
were taken from their communications
platforms into the physical shopping
environment.
x
14
Monki's very first shop concept, "The Forgotten Forest" - a surreal forest-like landscape with a dissolved horizon.
15
"You are never better than your
last project, we cannot afford to
ever be satisfied."
Catharina Frankander, Architect
>>
“He wanted to create a brand with
a shop concept that really stood out.
His goal was that the shop should be
spotted immediately and grab people’s
attention in busy shopping environments.”
“The design studio ‘Vår’ had been
located in Japan for a couple of years,
where they had been inspired of the
manifestation of story-telling fused
with branding. During 2005/2006 we
worked in collaboration with ‘Vår’ and
Adam to realise the first shop concept
that would capture and communicate
the story,” Catharina explains.
Encouraged by his vision and the
ambition to create a brand where the
impossible was possible, the co-workers
quickly started to evolve the Monki
world.
“The atmosphere in the creative
process was open and informal which
contributed to limitless visions. And we
all were very confident that we would
make it happen,” Catharina states.
‘Vår’ had created the foundation of
a spellbinding narrative story. Extremely
summarised, the basis was the character ‘Monki’, leading into a map of all the
important locations in the Monki world;
the Forgotten Forest, the City of Oil and
Steel, the Sea of Scallops, the Rosehip
River, the Peacock Field, to name but a
few.
When the first store opened in
September 2006 in Gothenburg, Monki
had yet to be acquired by the globally
renowned H&M. This unison was to
provide the platform to take their
expansion to a new and higher level.
Catharina explains that the concept
they created for the early shops was
‘The Forgotten Forest’. Evoking a sense
of a surreal forest-like landscape with a
dissolved horizon - an enchanted place
where the pale sky reaches down to
meet the icy crystal ground. Poison ivy
grew thick and wild among trees with
glowing branches carrying the latest
collections.
“We wanted to focus on the interval
shapes of trees which were replicated
by displays with rounded corners that
meet the floor and ceiling in a soft
transition. Also there was a fusion of
interior and graphic illustrations.”
After one year eleven Monki shops
had opened incorporating a shop concept that ran parallel with the ‘Forgotten Forest’; ‘the City of Oil and Steel’.
“Despite Monki being a chain
concept we wanted to give the shoppers
something that they wouldn’t expect.
We wanted to run the concept to extremes and to create shopping scenes that
constantly change,” Catharina explains.
“The next concept was the place
where the little black Monki blots were
born; ‘the City of Oil and Steel’ - a dark,
mystic place in which every interior
detail refers to something in the story.
It is a physical installation of the birth
of the Monkis – a post apocalyptic city
abandoned by mankind. A previous
explosion in a weaving shop turned the
city into a pool of chemical emissions
filled with dismantled skyscraper parts,
strange vegetation, neon, asphalt and
intensely powerful machinery,” Catharina describes.
“We worked with a lot of round
shapes and details that carry the story
forward. For example, the cash desk
displays a large machine and colourful
circular downlights in the ceiling, as
well as vertical lighting installations, is
linked together to visualise projections
of stains of toxic oil.”
x
16
17
To the left: The second shop concept, ‘The City of Oil and Steel’ - a mysterious post apocalyptic city. Above, the intriguing ‘Sea of Scallops’, Monki's latest concept.
>>
But the narrative story in the shops
doesn’t stop there. Following H&M’s
acquisition, Monki’s expanded first into
Germany and then Hong Kong and the
Netherland in 2010 and, most recently,
China in 2012. The small Swedish brand
was now a global success and the new
concepts kept coming.
“In ‘the Sea of Scallops’ we worked
with a lot of underwater references;
sparking jellyfishes, barnacles and
green moss. The mirrors in the ceiling
represent the surface of the ocean and
the floor a mossy seabed.”
Up to this day, the Monki brand is
highly regarded and has won a number
of prestigious awards.
“You are never better than your
last project; we cannot afford to ever
be satisfied. We constantly develop our
concepts parallel with brand development,” Catharina states while hinting
about a fourth concept coming up.
Catharina also believes that it’s
very important to give shoppers great
physical venues. She has a restless creativity that fuels her pursuit of creating
interesting experiences and spaces that
surprise the visitors.
When asked about the impact and
importance of light, Catharina explains
that she thinks it is a crucial part of
the shop experience as a whole - they
always considerate the light once sketching and designing.
“We are keen to invent our own
luminaires and seldom have standard
products and we work with like minded
suppliers who can help realize our
visions. We are always on the hunt for
creating an interesting image of light
with fairly simple means.”
Catharina also reveals that her
co-worker Joel, who have a background
of product design, also has a big passion
for light.
“Joel is super interested in lighting
and I’ve learnt a lot from him. His dip-
loma from the RCA was based upon a
series of lighting fixtures. One of them,
the Cluster Lamp, became a product,
now produced by Dutch Moooi.”
With our inherent passion for
light it is encouraging to hear that our
conviction of its importance is shared
amongst not only lighting designers but
also architects.
After a few more minutes of small
talk, Catharina sits back and reaches for
her coffee cup for one last sip and we
realize that an hour has rapidly passed.
The darkness is closing in on us and we
decide to head back out in the unforgiving weather.
Meeting Catharina has truly been
inspiring. Together with Monki, Electric
Dreams have created mesmerising
environments that make a difference.
Environments that engage, interact and
reach a deeper narrative indulgence for
passers-by to be spellbound by.
x
18
Justin Bieber performing at the Westfield shopping centre.
Westfield London
Time for some large scale shopping! Europe’s largest
shopping centre, Westfield London in White City and
its sister megamall, Westfield Stratford City in the east
of the capital offers quite a shopping experience.
text fran pearce
shopping on the web is transforming
retail and having a radical impact on
the high street with some brands that
have even survived world wars and
numerous recessions finally collapsing.
As the UK’s Centre for Retail Research
(CRR) says in its forecast for 2013/14*,
‘the rapid growth of online spending,
westfield london
which now accounts for more than 12
per cent of retail sales, has occurred
mainly at the expense of conventional
shops, supermarkets and department
stores, resulting in even lower spending
in physical retail stores’.
So perhaps it is not surprising that
so-called bricks and mortar retailers
are looking for new ways to attract
customers with something more than
the instant, though possibly illusory,
gratification available at the click of a
mouse. Retailment, aimed at engaging
as many of the customer’s senses as
possible – often including their sense
of fun – is one such strategy. Aiming
19
at enticing shoppers back into the real
world with physical contact and holding
their attention for long enough to make
a sale.
Europe’s largest shopping centre,
Westfield London in White City, and its
sister megamall, Westfield Stratford
City in the east of the capital, offer a
retailment experience that encompasses well-tried forms of entertainment
such as restaurants, bowling lanes, cinemas and a casino, along with what are
termed ‘activations’. Myf Ryan, Westfield
UK/EU general manager marketing,
explains that “activations are a combination of ways to encourage interaction
between shopper and product, to get
them to touch and feel and become
involved with a brand”.
They range from Twinings tea
tastings and Cadbury’s chocolate
waterfalls to ‘BrandSpace’, the use of
>>
Westfield Stratford City - an eye-catcher at night.
westfield london
x
20
Vogue Fashion Night's Out at Westfield London.
common areas outside the stores for
experiential displays, often of vehicles
or with a hi-tech element. With more
than 300 stores and 70 places to eat
and drink, Westfield London has roughly
1.5 million sq ft (140,000 sq m) of retail
space. Its atrium is easily big enough to
host events like the 20-car fashion car
boot sale, with brands such as oasis,
Reiss, Swarovski and House of Fraser
swapping concessions and counters for
specially liveried cars.
“We have a large commercialisation team that works with retailers
and brands that don’t have permanent
space in the centres to help them make
ground-breaking events, in some cases
to market specific products, such as
Samsung’s experiential space in the
main atrium area of Westfield London,”
Ryan explains.
westfield london
Aside from novelty and up-ending
preconceptions, time-limiting experiences to keep them fresh also helps to
create activations. For example, during
the Olympic Games, Westfield Stratford
City, at the gateway to the 2012 Olympics venue, hosted experiential pop-ups
created by Design4Retail for brands
such as Magnum ice cream on behalf of
brand consultancy Hot Pickle. “They had
a queue every day in the store; it was
an incredibly innovative concept,” says
Ryan.
“We pride ourselves on delivering
destinations, not just to shopping centres but places where people also go to
dine, be entertained and play. It’s about
creating a real day-out experience,” she
adds. “Many of the brands do it incredibly well and they understand the new
concept is not just about having a bricks
and mortar store and a product and a
shop assistant, it's about providing a
level of entertainment and interaction.”
Inevitably, some activation blurs
the boundary between the digital and
the real-world, real-time experience of
being at Westfield. The Future Fashion
event designed to usher in the Spring/
Summer 2012 collections encouraged
visitors to use huge LCD touch screens
to collate personalised style boards,
instantly receive information on where
to buy products from any of 1000 suppliers at Westfield by email, and then
post their choice on social media for the
approval or otherwise of their friends.
But there is nothing quite like actually
being somewhere and experiencing
the atmosphere, including the lighting.
Both centres have large glass roofs
designed to let in natural light. Malls in
21
>>
both assets are designed so that doubleheight retail units are on the top floor,
which helps to bring more light into the
centre that is fed further down the centre through the oversized voids. Lighting
controls are used throughout to create
the variation and change of light levels
needed both to stimulate and de-stress
visitors making a day of it.
Elements of the lighting reflect the
notion of retailment. Local designer
Lee Broom has created a fitting for
the entrance comprising a large gold
‘bangle’, 1.5m in diameter, containing 60 LEDs that makes reference to
fairgrounds and reflects sparkles off the
Emin and designer Tom Dixon, whose
own designs light the food court at
Stratford City.
And while the shutters are going
up on many high streets these two
megamalls are thriving, according to
Ryan, who says Stratford City alone had
47 million visitors in its first year and
that between them the two London
Westfield assets will generate about
£1.8 billion in 2013.
“Shoppers are a lot more discerning
and more demanding of the retail experience,” she says. “We’re seeing a growth
in online shopping but at Westfield
we have to help retailers interact with
walls. His creation won a wide-ranging
design competition as part of the Studio
East Initiative led by UK retail guru Mary
Portas that also included artist Tracy
shoppers and provide an experience
that will entertain and excite and give
them a real reason to come back.”
Future Fashion event at Westfield.
westfield london
x
22
Entering the
M&M's World
Indeed, The M&M's World in the middle of London is a sweet attraction. This extraordinary and engaging retail shop extend the physical retail experience and make
customers into enthusiastic fans.
text fran pearce
london’s recently redeveloped Leicester Square has been a hub of popular
entertainment since the 18th century,
forming part of the capital’s ‘theatreland’ in the late 19th century, and
for decades playing host to red carpet
movie premieres that have been beamed worldwide. With Chinatown, Soho
and Covent Garden all on its doorstep, it
attracts some 27 million visitors annually – one very good reason for Mars, the
entering the m&m world
global confectionery brand, to choose it
as the location for Europe’s first M&M's
World, where retail meets entertainment in the form of ‘retailment‘.
US sociologist George Ritzer coined
the term retailtainment. He defined it
as ‘the use of sound, ambience, emotion
and activity to get customers interested
in the merchandise and in the mood to
buy’. While the ‘theatre of retail’ is apparent in many shopping environments,
retailment is often expressed through
retail and interior design, including
lighting design, and aims to engage all
the senses.
Ritzer also talked about ‘cathedrals
and landscapes of consumption’. The
Leicester Square M&M's World is one
such cathedral. It occupies a massive
35,000 sqft (3,250sqm) over four floors
of a new landmark building designed
by architect Jestico + Wiles. Above it,
23
the trendy W Hotel has a glass facade
used to create a huge colour-changing
installation by lighting artist/designer
Jason Bruges which functions like a
giant, animated pixel screen and shows
abstract images created by continually
photographing the square.
The store channels the drama of its
surroundings into a distinct retailment
experience. The retail element extends
to branded merchandise including soft
toys, clothing, bedding, jewellery and
kitchenware, and there is an interactive,
rainbow-like ‘wall of chocolate’ where
the idea is to create a personalised
selection from 22 shades of M&M's.
Some products are the result of collaboration with other brands such as
crystal-maker Swarovski.
The entertainment includes
interactive displays; encounters with
larger-than-life M&M's characters in
UK-inspired guises (Buckingham Palace
guardsmen, soccer player, four M&M's
on a zebra crossing, recreating the cover
of The Beatles’ Abbey Road album); opportunities to be photographed against
a video backdrop, and a walk-through
timeline of the brand.
A cinema-style hoarding that curves
around the main hall sums up the
intent: ‘So much more than chocolate. Four levels of fun,’ it proclaims.
Although the product is much in
evidence, the brand and the experience
are to the fore, with colour taking a
key role. Playing with perceptions of
scale, what appears to be an artwork
of nine M&M's-coloured Union flags
was, in fact, created from thousands
of individually cast and painted resin
beads since the real thing would eventually have melted under the lights. The
colour-coded, candy-coated chocolates
invented in 1941 may well have been
advertised subsequently – with a variety
of fillings – as the sweet that ‘melts in
your mouth, not in your hand,’ but there
are limits.
The storefront itself is dominated
by an eye-catching curtain of colourchanging LED light-box pendants of
differing lengths, which operate under
DMX control. Inside, the feature lighting
includes an M&M's-style tiered chandelier hanging over the well that sur-
rounds the red staircase, while track and
spot lighting highlights areas themed
around the characters known simply
as Red, Yellow, Green, Blue and Orange
who act as ‘spokescandies’.
Other flavours of retailment are
available within 10 minutes' walk of
M&M's World, Leicester Square, from
brands such as Nike, Apple and Anthropologie, but the M&M's experience is
largely about meeting these spokescandies, child-friendly characters designed
to create what might be called a ‘reverse
Disney effect’: turning customers into
dedicated fans.
More than 10 million people a year
visit the M&M's World stores in Times
Square New York, Orlando and Las
Vegas. Although the retailment aspect
of M&M's marketing is reinforced by TV,
In the run-up to its opening, Mars
Retail Group President Susan Saideman
commented:
“We can’t wait to bring the world’s
most popular confectionery brand to
the heart of the UK. This will be our
first store outside North America,
which will see a unique twist of London
culture added to the M&M’s experience.
Whether you’re a Londoner or visiting
this great city from elsewhere in the UK
or abroad, M&M’s World is a must-see
for all chocolate lovers.”
M&M's World Leicester Square certainly gains leverage from its location
but its use of retailment means that it
will undoubtedly act as a destination
in its own right. The focus is entirely on
the brand and while sales are essential, what customers also take away is
online, in-store and cinema promotion,
visitor numbers help put Mars’s reported investment of more than £10 million
in Leicester Square into perspective.
what Mars hopes is ‘a totally unique,
fun-filled shopping experience for all
who visit, guaranteed to make it one of
London's sweetest attractions'.
The M&M's World London Routemaster Bus.
entering the m&m world
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More than just
shopping
Shop till you drop! Emporia is a brand new shopping
centre, located in the south of Sweden. It is an impressing
building designed by one of the most renowned Swedish
architects Gert Wingårdh.
text camilla hult | photo jacob karström
more than just shopping
25
the concept behind emporia was to
be more than a shopping centre. The
total experience within the space was
a key consideration for Steen och Ström
during the planning stage, focusing on
art, design and architecture.
Gert Wingårdh, one of Sweden’s
most internationally celebrated
architects, was entrusted with bring
this vision to life. With a background in
creating inspirational public buildings,
such as the Swedish embassies in Berlin
and Washington, his work has been featured in the prestigious Phaidon Atlas
publications.
When planning the routes into the
building, the Sea and Amber entrances, Gert drew inspiration from the
feeling of enclosure he experienced
when walking into the Pantheon in
Rome when he was younger. Over 800
coloured panes of glass were all bent
into unique shapes, similar to the peel
of an orange segment, creating an
immediate impression on the visiting
customers. This effect was created by
placing double panes of glass within
a mould which was heated up to 540
degrees. This caused the glass to soften
and be shaped by its own weight into
the contours. This was supplemented
by a thin plastic film which provides
the glass with its amber or marine blue
colour.
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Gert Wingårdh, the architect behind Emporia.
>>
Emporia
Emporia is a brand new shopping centre,
located in the south of Sweden. It is an
impressing building designed by one of
the most renowned Swedish architects
Gert Wingårdh, owned by Steen och
Ström, Scandinavia’s leading shopping
centre company. Around 25 000 visitors
are estimated to visit Emporia every day,
to buy something in some of the 200
shops.
The team of architects working on
the design aspired to create an image
of a city. A building where there would
be something for everyone, even the
people who did not intend to shop. Green spaces, art and areas to rest,
found in many cities, are replicated
within Emporia. The furniture is a mix
of old, well-known design classics
interwoven with new sofas, tables and
benches and lamps, custom designed by
Wingårdhs.
As part of their holistic approach
to the customer experience, the public
conveniences where taken one step
beyond the ordinary. Here toilets are
often used as post-purchase dressing
rooms and to reflect this, the designers
factored in large mirrors and seating
facilities within fresh and spacious
environments.
environmental strategy
Situated on the top of the building is a
27 000 m² large rooftop park. Equating
to the size of four football pitches and
one of the 10 largest in the world, the
rooftop park is a reflection of the vision
of creating an inspiring sanctuary for
the visitors.
Open to the public, the rooftop
landscape offers a magnificent view;
however the benefits are not solely
aesthetic. Noise is reduced, it removes
the need for a surface water system
and provides good insulation; helping
to reduce energy consumption. The
roof also absorbs and binds pollution,
positively contributing to environment
of the local area.
The undulating hillocks are designed to create protected places for play,
events and relaxation. The vegetation
is adapted to the topography: barren
sedum on top of the hillocks and more
luxuriant vegetation in the protected
valleys in-between. The park inhabits
about 30 000 different plants.
Emporia is the first shopping centre
in Sweden with BREEAM environmental
27
certification. BREEAM has developed a
number of assessment tools and guides
for different types of buildings. These
can be used for both existing buildings
and in project planning for new-builds.
The environmental performance of
buildings is assessed within a number
of different areas. There are minimum
requirements for achieving points in
terms of project management, the
building's energy use, the internal
environment such as ventilation and
lighting, water use, waste management
and land use and impact on the immediate environment.
shops with different atmospheres
The mix of shops is quite unique for
a Swedish shopping centre, drawing
inspiration from an international environment with a mix of brands.
One of the brands is the American
surf brand ‘Hollister’ which has a very
interesting shop concept based upon
the ‘retailment’ trend. The dark interior
and the total lack of general lighting
creates a fascinating experience when
entering the store. It is hard to actually
see the clothes clearly but the drama of
the shop make you want to enter and
explore the further in the store you get.
Another brand is ‘Ralph Lauren
Denim and Supply’. They also chose a
highly interesting concept in Emporia.
The interior is vintage-based, providing
a real authentic feeling. The impression of Brooklyn in the 1950s is evident
partly through the open installations
and wood and tile-materials.
Supplementing the interior is a
range of interesting details such as
guitars and amplifiers and the clothes
are displayed in ancient looking boxes,
reinforcing their brand personality.
The lighting, designed by the New
York practise Schwinghammer Lighting
and supplied by Fagerhult, follows this
trend. The lighting tracks are sprayed
to look rusty, with LEDs, PAR 38 Cannor
in silver with a retrofit LED 2800 K light
source, used throughout the store
aiding efficiency.
Denim and Supply provided the
pendants with a low power, carbon filament lamp which creates a visual contrast to the LEDs used in the rest of the
store. The lighting solution contributes
to the warm and comfortable feeling of
the shop and even though the lighting is
soft and subtle, it is highly commercial.
Facts about Emporia
Total floor space: Store space:
Office space: Employees:
Visitors a day: Designed by architect:
Total area of roof park:
93,000 m²
68,000 m²
11,000 m²
3,000
25,000
Gert Wingårdh
26,700 m²
BREEAM environmental certification
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A temporary Pop-Up shop for the independent clothing brand ‘Zuo corp’. The project is a joint work of two design studios: ‘Super Super’ and ‘Inside/outside’.
Portable formats
in retail
The legend and the myth - we take a closer look at the
phenomenon that is the ‘Pop-Up’ concept.
text katarina morén | photo jacek majewski
despite the intense and widespread
digital landscape of today we are more
convinced than ever that the physical
store is an important brand-carrying
platform. Why? Because when entrenched in a binary bubble of ones and
zeros - what could be more unique than
a true experience?
portable formats in retail
Creating an experience in retail
environments is something which is
very close to Fagerhults hearts - and we
do it by implementing light experiences.
But in general, how can a brand and a
retail shop take the initiative to invite
consumers to a place worthwhile stopping by at? Maybe a narrative story is
imbedded in the brand and replicated
in-store, or advanced digital technology
frames the surrounding or, maybe,
the shop simply ‘pops’. Not literally of
course, rather the shop appears in unexpected places for a restricted period of
time – we are talking about the pop-up
concept.
29
introducing the pop-up shop
The brand agency Vacant is widely
heralded as the founder of the pop-up
store as a viable retail concept. By offering a combination of real estate and
legal advice mixed with viral, guerrilla
and social marketing techniques, they
made it possible for both established
and emerging brands to open up in
empty spaces in major cities.
The pop-up principle involves
creating a temporary shop in all kinds of
places and in all kinds of ways. A crucial
factor is often to pop up in places that
are totally unexpected – the underground station, on the beach or in the
middle of a city park. There is also a raw
and industrial-looking feel to many
of the concepts, even luxury brands
experiment with basic materials such
as wooden crates, concrete and steel to
create the feeling of a spontaneous and
The ‘Zuo corp’ Pop-Up shop opened on the 18th of December 2010 and was open for a limited time of just 3 months.
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30
31
"There are indications of that
the pop-up trend has emerged
beneath the portable format."
>>
disordered environment. Often a stark
contrast to their otherwise, clean and
controlled brand profile.
the entertainment era
The concept has been talked about for
several years now but really it’s only the
retail approach that has been successful
over time. What are the reasons behind
this? We are living in an age in which
entertainment and surprises are rewarded since it challenges our treadmill
lifestyle. Furthermore our sophisticated
electronic devices are frequently entertaining us – so we now extensively seek
extraordinary experiences in ‘real life’ as
well. These are just a few of the reasons
why the Pop-Up stores generates buzz
and strengthen brand relations. It targets the right crowd, surprises, performs
and guarantee exclusivity because of its
limited timespan.
Who uses Pop-Up stores? Both
developing and well-known brands can
befit from the ‘cool factor’ gained when
they breaking out from their otherwise perfectly fitted flagship concepts.
They are also perceived as much more
responsive and fast moving. And isn’t
that what all retailer wants - to attract
attention and to create a buzz so that
the experience and the brand are talked
about?
consequences of the trend
What about the future of pop-ups? Will
there be even more extreme set ups?
Perhaps. But what we do know is that
the pop-up trend has developed from
small box to big box. Larger pop-up
malls, in which several shops gather in
once location under a limited period of
time, are evolving. One example of this
is ‘Boxpark’ in London and Amsterdam.
There are also indications that
aspects of the pop-up trend has emerged beneath the portable format – there
are many brands that embrace the type
of style in terms of interior and setting
that is created in pop-up stores even
if the store itself is permanent. Retail
brands are daring to complement well
planned and polished shop concepts
with more rough and unrefined ones.
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32
A natural and
honest shop
experience
The time-limited Zalando Pop-Up store is
transferring the commercial space into an
authentic, raw set-up for shopping as well as
events in the evening.
text katarina morén | photo gonzalo baro
the zalando pop-up concept
33
The Zalando Pop-Up store.
"I am very excited about using
materials for architecture as well as
interior that changes and becomes
more beautiful over time."
Sigurd Larsen, Architect
what do flexible architecture, strong
association of natural materials and
innovative concepts have in common?
Well there are many to be found, but
one in particular is Sigurd Larsen.
The Danish born architect Sigurd
Larsen founded the design studio
‘Sigurd Larsen architecture & design’
in 2009. Their work characteristically
combines the aesthetics of high quality
materials with concepts focusing on
functionality in complex spaces. Innovative projects, ranging from showrooms
to pop-up stores, are not the only
produce of the studio. Sigurd’s furniture,
often with strong elements of wood,
has been exhibited at fairs and galleries
in Berlin, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Tokyo,
Seoul and Shanghai.
Sigurd highlights the visual communication of the brand and its target
group as important source of inspiration, but he also references the history
of the company and the actual space.
With that in mind, one particular project
of Sigurd’s caught our eye; the Zalando
pop-up store.
Sigurd Larsen architecture & design
Sigurd Larsen is a Berlin based Danish
architect working within the fields of design,
art and architecture. He has a master degree
from The Royal Academy of Fine Arts, School
of Architecture in Copenhagen and previously
been employed at OMA-Rem Koolhaas in New
York, MVRDV in Rotterdam, Cobe Architects in
Copenhagen and Topotek1 in Berlin.
Photo: Michael Brus
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34
>>
Inspired by the large wooden crates
used in the shipping industry, the design
for Zalando’s Pop-Up store features
three free-standing boxes, each revealing a separate collection. The boxes are
placed at angles to the concrete walls,
guiding the visitor through the space
as they discover the assorted displays
of the furniture. Concrete stools echo
the materials used for the walls and act
as counterweights for the hangers of a
fourth collection.
“I am very excited about using
materials for architecture as well as
an interior that changes and becomes
more beautiful over time. Good materials gain quality from being used and
as the Pop-Up store was designed to
exist for three days, the materials were
left with a raw and untreated finish. To
design a store with such a short timespan is a unique opportunity to work
with this kind of aesthetics,” Sigurd
explains.
Not content with the buzz a pop-up
shop usually generates, Zalando created
even more. Stacks of white boxes (originally used to distribute goods) covered
the ‘display windows’. Over time the
facade of white boxes would disintegrate, revealing the content of the shop,
day by day.
35
"Light has the potential of being the
central element in all architecture
and interior design."
Sigurd Larsen, Architect
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36
One of the free standing piece of furniture next to the ‘display window’ covered in white boxes.
>>
Throughout the period the store
was open they arranged various events
like concerts, workshops and artist
performances, necessitating flexibility
within the space.
“The inspiration of how to represent
the brand spaciously came from conversations with the client at the beginning
of the process. But in general the client
gave me free hands when designing the
space,” Sigurd explains.
The room in Weinmeisterstrasse in
Berlin was 80m² and the opening event
hosted hundreds of guests. The three
tall, free standing pieces of furniture
were designed to accommodate such
events and could be moved to the corners on the opening night.
“The furniture was given dimensions so they fitted exactly between
columns and doors. And during the
opening hours of the store they were
placed centrally, so the space could not
be overlooked from the entrance.”
“This way the guest was invited to
wander about and explore the different
sides of the boxes and rooms inside of
them,” Sigurd continues.
The lighting within the store was
aimed and focused on the large furniture and the exhibited items, using the
light to help create small spaces within
the large one.
“The eyes of the visitor follow the
light, so the light is essential for creating
focus and contrasts in any room. Light
has the potential of being the central
element in all architecture and interior
design. Both from the way light filters
through the facade of a building as
well as the focus and spacial subdivision created by artificial light,” Sigurd
explains.
In summary, the Zalando pop-up
store with its flexible and honest interior design engage and inspires, offering
a small, yet memorable shopping experience – even if only for a limited time.
37
The setting is minimalistic and simple. Here is one of Sigurd's concrete stools.
The ‘display window’ uncovered and the wooden display filled with merchandise.
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38
A warehouse
like no other.
Hypermarché is a social and commercial experience
established in a rough and temporary format with
the objective to attract the young locals.
Cardboard boxes act as displays.
text katarina morén | photo andreas meichsner
if we fuse the pop-up trend with
‘retailment’(retail + entertainment) we
get Hypermarché. This temporary 600
square-metre warehouse in Hafencity
Hamburg, not only provides great shopping experience, but also gastronomical
and cultural ones. Incorporated with
this industrial looking warehouse is a
café and a stage for different types of
performances in the evening.
The objective of the installation
was to attract young locals to Hafencity.
This part of Hamburg has traditionally
been an impersonal developing area,
a warehouse like no other
usually filled with businessmen during
the week or tourists in the weekends.
To attract the interest of this selective
clientele live music, DJs and other cultural happenings have been established
in addition to the shopping facilities.
Unsurprisingly the merchandise displayed in the warehouse is from the fields of
fashion, lifestyle and design.
The interior of this unique shopping
hub was the work of the German design
agency ‘PARAT’. They created three
distinct zones in the warehouse with
diverse materials and lighting. Warm
Hypermarché
This temporary concept store in Germany
contains a lifestyle retail shop, bar and
stage for cultural events. Shoppers are
invited to enjoy a meal, check out fashion
and interior products, or listen to live
readings and DJ-spun tracks.
39
Design and execution interior: PARAT, www.buero-parat.de
Idea/ concept Hypermarché: Here We Go
Corporate identity and web design: We Are Fellows
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40
41
"The colourful wooden fitting
rooms create an inviting space
for trying out clothes."
>>
materials, such as wood and cardboard,
have been used to contrast with the
concrete and metal ceiling.
The main area, including the
multi-layered stage, was constructed
of plywood and 600 metres of squared
timber. A bar, a back wall for all types
of different projections and a six-metre
table displaying books and magazines
have all been built-into the infrastructure. The display table can be transformed
into a dinner table for hungry guests
later in the evening.
Thomas Huth at PARAT intended the
lighting to be an essential element in a
successful concept and in Hypermarché
an innovative and frugal lighting solution was born.
“A regular grid of neon lights was
modified by turning off a tube or by
adding shades to get “downlights”.
Some of the neon lights were integrated
in the wooden scenery to strengthen
the graphics appearance,” Thomas
explains.
“Above the long tables we added
lamps with warm light to make the area
cosier, these lamps, interestingly, are
also for sale,” Thomas continues.
Hypermarché is yet another
example of how new types of shopping
experiences are being initiated around
the world. By merging different trends
and events, within a pop-up concept, it
has been possible to attract the digital
consumers of today.
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Boxpark, the popular Pop-Up mall in London - lot of shopping possibilities integrated in one small area.
Pop-up 2.0
The pop-up mall Boxpark, that opened in London in late
2011 is already a great success. We learned more about
the concept that is now spreading to Amsterdam.
text fran pearce | photo archard architectural photography
bob dylan and the Rolling Stones both
recently chose to promote albums
through the medium of the pop-up
store, a temporary retail outlet increasingly used to target key groups of consumers, test locations and provide an
experience that may never be repeated.
Marking a musical half century, Dylan’s pop-ups, fleetingly and
simultaneously occupied a basement
pop-up 2.0
cinema in London’s Soho and premises
in Los Angeles, New York and Berlin. The
Stones took over a store on London’s
Carnaby Street to sell memorabilia and
tour goods in the run-up to their concert
at Wembley, which also commemorated
50 years in rock and roll.
It might seem ironic that something
as short-lived and transient as the popup store – the epitome of a here-today-
gone-tomorrow phenomenon – was
used to celebrate their longevity but
pop-ups in general are very much of the
moment.
Whether open for hours, days,
weeks or months, retail pop-ups come
in many guises from in-store franchises
to design-led short tenancy shops, but
what they have in common is that they
offer retailers a chance to play with
43
their brands in creative, engaging and –
above all – flexible ways, without major
risk or overheads.
And now the concept has been
given a new twist: the pop-up mall.
The first, Boxpark, opened in London in
November 2011 and is already so successful that a second is on its way at a
former shipyard in Amsterdam.
Boxpark occupies a carefully
designed and connected collection of
shipping containers arranged in two
storeys on a site at the edge of London’s
increasingly trendy creative hub, Shoreditch. At any one time, they house some
60 lifestyle brands, galleries and cafes in
‘boxshops’, which are stripped and refitted as the brands take up residence.
Boxpark is on a site known as the
Goodsyard: 4.7 hectares of former
railway yard that laid vacant for around
forty years but is destined for regeneration. Developers Hammerson and the
One of the all the shops installed in Boxpark.
pop-up 2.0
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44
>>
Ballymore Group plan to build up to
2000 homes together with commercial
and leisure facilities and a new public
open space on the site.
This incarnation of Boxpark has
a preordained lifespan of five years
but the arrival and departure of shops
within it is much more rapid, which
creates a variety of challenges on the
marketing and presentational fronts,
but accords with the street culture and
in-the-know appeal of pop-up. Pop-up’s
history is one of guerrilla projects often
designed on the fly, from restaurants
to galleries and even secret cinemas,
that encompass varying degrees of
counter-culture psychology, outsider art
and attitude. At the ‘street’ level, their
impermanence gives them an air of the
elusive and the exclusive that makes
them ideal vehicles for selling fashion
in the age of social networking and viral
marketing.
While shipping containers have
been used throughout the world as
architectural building blocks, they seem
especially suited to the task at Boxpark,
which was developed by Roger Wade,
creator of the Boxfresh retail brand
and fashion brand consultancy Brands
Incorporated.
"I was always fascinated by shipping
containers," says Wade. "The idea of
Boxpark was a fusion of many personal
ideas over time. I wanted to create
something on a grand scale by using
shipping containers and offer retailers
short leases, versatility and cost-effective retailing that made sense – the antithesis of the out-of-town shopping mall.
And at the same time a place where the
kids could just hang out and have fun."
And what better architectural typology
to convey both transience and trade?
Each unit measures approximately 12m
by 2.5m, with a height of just over 2.5m.
Externally, the containers provide a
hard-edged urban/industrial aesthetic
for the streetwear, fashion and sports
brands that predominate at Boxpark
‘by invitation only’. Initially at least,
their internal construction provides the
classic white box beloved of art galleries
and studios as the framework for the
retail designer’s creativity; their very
uniformity spurs competition not only
for custom but in terms of a novel brand
experience.
Global brands such as Dockers
and Calvin Klein vie with arts graduate
start-ups and up-and-coming fashion
talent whose work shares container
space with other nascent labels and is
showcased sometimes only for days.
Scale, variety, constant change and experimentation all combine to create
a buzz that would be almost impossible
to replicate in a standard mall with high
rents and long tenures. And while popups are far from unknown on the high
street or even in megamalls in isolation,
here they generate synergy, creating a
retail attraction greater than the sum of
its parts.
In 2008 Puma had a three-storey
container store designed for it by New
York and Naples-based container architecture specialist Lotek which moved
between venues for the 2008/2009
Volvo Ocean Race. “It is a mutual love
for container architecture that pulled us
and Boxpark together,” says Puma. It has
built a store called Twentyone in unit
21 at Boxpark where the stock rotates
every 21 days and there are precisely 21
special and limited styles of footwear
available.
Although setting up at Boxpark is
not as frenetic as demounting containers in Alicante and re-erecting them
in Boston for a sea race, tight deadlines
and short lifespans encourage interior
designers to create ‘sets’ within the
containers that display a dynamism that
forms part of the customer experience.
Diversity is reflected in the lighting
design which takes on an individual
45
character within each unit. The rugged
but funky aesthetic is embraced at
Boxfresh’s boxshop. Its interior, created
by Design4retail employs a palette of
galvanised steel and perforated steel
mesh, a concrete back wall and oak
fixtures to give it a ‘raw yet crafted look’
broken up with industrial tube lighting
and feature pendants. Contrast its apparent simplicity with the NikeFuel Station
at Boxpark where Nike’s in-house designers have used interactive LED walls featuring floor-to-ceiling motion sensors to
create a piece of digital light art that can
be shared via social networks.
Such is the nature of pop-up that
it is hard to tell whether the lighting
design in some boxshops has resulted from a quick trip to the DIY shed
and some inspired theatrical stage
management skills or something more
artistic, but bare compact fluorescents
or simple strip lighting are often used to
good effect. Diesel’s urban spin-off menand womenswear brand for twentysomethings, 55DSL, took up residence
at Boxpark for six weeks in a boxshop/
gallery that featured the work of four
artists under the cold light of fluorescents. It worked because of the nature
of the art, some inspired by street art
and tattoos, juxtaposed with urban
clothes designs.
Retail lighting design principles
remain the same and in most cases
does its job modestly and unnoticed if
not necessarily out of view. When the
Smiley World Association charity chose
Boxpark for its first Smiley store it went
for an interior design that combined
scaffolding clothes rails, metal decking
and downlighting recessed into a
suspended ceiling cradle, with a soundactivated laser, smoke machine, sound
system and DJ decks built into the cash
and wrap area to create a party vibe.
Roger Wade recently announced that
a Boxpark will open in Amsterdam in
August 2013, where 120 containers will
shelter under a 30m-high roof allowing
the addition of an ice rink in winter. Like
the Smiley store, this new manifestation
of the ever-evolving pop-up concept
only goes to confirm Wade’s dictum that
‘retail is entertainment’.
pop-up 2.0
x
46
Products for enhanced
atmospheres
Many of the products in Fagerhults portfolio can help you
create identity and support the communication of your brand
values. Here are three recently launched products that can
increase the level of identity in a shop.
text camilla hult
products for enhanced atmospheres
47
"Tibi is the result of a luminaire with
links to the past history of design."
Olle Lundberg, Designer
Tibi, providing light.
Olle Lundberg
Olle Lundberg is CEO at LundbergDesign
and has been designing professional lighting for Fagerhult for more than 15 years.
Most of the design work is Scandinavian
in style, form and expression. Their idea
of design is that it has to be engaging, fun
and it has to exercise the creative mind.
tibi is a luminaire suitable for virtually
any application. Inspired by a classic
principle and brought right up-to-date
with contemporary LED technology, its
design is truly ‘timeless’.
Tibi is a complete range of luminaires, encompassing pendant, ceiling
and wall variations, in several different
sizes. This offers the scope to create
varied light patterns with a consistent
visual appeal. High-end materials meet
the latest in LED technology to create a
unison of aesthetics and energy performance.
Tibi channels the LEDs into a crisp
light which flows towards the ceilings
and walls, providing excellent levels for
general lighting while retaining a focus
on anti-glare qualities.
a glowing super-ellipse
The diffuser is made of smooth polished
acrylic, reminiscent of glass. Careful
consideration was paid towards the
choice of materials to produce a hybrid
of exclusivity and durability which is,
above all, economical. Plastic doesn’t
have to look like plastic, nor does it have
to be matt. The eye-catching diffuser
has given the material a new lease
of life, reflecting the surroundings of
where it is placed.
Olle Lundberg, the designer of
Tibi, describes the thought behind the
product:
“Straight or round? Straight lines
suggest order and clarity. They are easy
to combine and save space. Round
lines are pleasant to move around and
provide greater freedom when used in
a room setting. Like so many before me,
I wanted to have my cake and eat it. I
wanted to create a luminaire that was
both. That united the matter-of-factness of straight lines with the relaxed
feel of rounded lines. And I wanted to
anchor the luminaire in the tradition of
Scandinavian design,” Olle describes.
“The shape already existed, which
is relevant. The super-ellipse was introduced by Piet Hein, during the transition
between the 1950s and the 1960s. It
has been used in many contexts but, as
far as I am aware, never in a luminaire. We are far more used to seeing it
horizontal, for example as a tabletop,
but the super-ellipse can also be stood
upright. That’s what I have done with
Tibi.”
“As a compromise between the
round and the square, the super-ellipse
is the perfect choice. You avoid the
traditional ‘loaf’ shape, but nor do you
get a fully globular luminaire, which
in my opinion is much too tall. The
result is a luminaire with links to the
past history of design, but also one
that relates to the attitudes of people
towards rooms throughout history. The
main goal was for Tibi to function just
x
48
>>
as well in an 18th century environment
as in an office inspired by the TV series
‘Mad Men’. But, above all, Tibi should
still remain relevant in the future. That’s
why I’ve been a little restrained. The
more you go for it, the greater the risk
of becoming trapped in your own time,”
Olle continues.
who invented the super-ellipse?
Nobody knows for sure. The super-ellipse is the response to a human, aesthetic
search that seems to have existed
throughout history and was formulated
by the French mathematician Gabriel
Lamé in the nineteenth century. But
the name that gets mentioned above
all others is Piet Hein, a Danish poet,
designer and artist. His variant achieved
lasting fame in the 1950s and 1960s,
when Hein designed a super-ellipse for
Sergels torg interchange in Stockholm.
The closed, flat curve, which was a cross
between an ellipse and a rectangle,
became a feature of the modernist era.
Not least thanks to Hein’s collaboration with the Swedish designer Bruno
Mathson, which resulted in the iconic
super-ellipse table with its characteristic span legs. The super-ellipse is a key
element in the heritage of Scandinavian
design: timeless perfection
appareo
The luminaire is lit but where is the light
source? Appareo is more than a fixture;
it’s an experience that makes you think,
a puzzle, a little piece of everyday magic.
Appareo is a suspended LED luminaire, combining uncompromising
design with high levels of illumination
and excellent ergonomics. The strengths
of LED are also the source of some of its
biggest challenges. How do you utilise
its small dimensions without losing function? Or maximise the high intensity
without wasting light or dazzling the
viewer? The more features you have to
Tibi.
Pozzo 1000mm.
Howl Design Studio
Gustav Müller Nord, Carsper Asmussen
and Jen O johansson at Howl Designstudio have developed Appareo in
collaboration with Fagerhult.
49
Appareo
"Appareo makes no big deal out of
being an LED luminaire. Instead,it
shows what technology can achieve."
Casper Asmussen, Howl Design Studio
add into a luminaire the more extreme
it becomes in its design. That’s why
Howl Design Studio chose to work with
a completely new material.
pozzo - bring the sky indoors.
Fagerhults popular Pozzo has been
enriched with another addition to the
family. A bigger version of the reces-
The trick behind the design is quite
simple really; Appareo has a heart of
acrylic plastic. This material differs from
normal acrylic which doesn’t allow
light to pass through; rather it bounced
against the surface. In Appareo there is
no such restriction. The LEDs are positioned around the diffuser, throwing the
light at the plastic, which provides the
dual role of reflector and glare protector.
When the luminaire is turned off, it is
completely transparent. It’s like it is no
longer there. Appareo is available in
rectangular or circular designs.
sed Pozzo is now available in 1000mm
diameter. Its opal louvre helps create a
larger piece of the sky in areas where
there may be limited options for the real
thing.
With the adjustable diffuser it can
vary its appearance and function depending upon the needs of the space. The
diffuser can be positioned slightly recessed within the fitting, to create a 'light
well' effect, or aligned to the ceiling as a
large area, round beam luminaire.
x
50
Creative creation
Anders Strömberg and Erik Torstensson are lighting designers
specialising in concept development at Fagerhult. We had a
chat with them to get their thoughts on good retail applications for the new decorative luminaries from Fagerhult.
text camilla hult
Erik Torstensson.
Anders Strömberg in the Fagerhult studio.
Concept development department
Anders and Erik are concept developers
at Fagerhult, retail lighting solution.
Generating idéas and concepts of creative
lighting design and luminaires are one
important part of creating improved
brand experiences in a shop.
creative creation
anders strömberg and Erik Torstensson
are lighting designers specialising in
concept development at Fagerhult Retail
Solutions. I had a chat with them to get
their thoughts on how the new decorative luminaires from Fagerhult can
build an identity in a shop, accentuate
certain areas and create a really great
atmosphere.
tibi
Tibi is based around an interesting story;
the super ellipse. The creator of the
luminaire is the Swedish designer Olle
Lundberg, but it was Piet Hein who first
came up with the super ellipse shape.
“The first application that comes to
mind is a large atrium space with a high
ceiling height, perhaps in a shopping
centre entrance or something similar.
If used in a large enough space a group
could be suspended in different heights.
The same effect would also look great
in a shop with a regular ceiling height,”
Anders suggests.
“The illuminated surface of the
product has an expression that really
stands out. The different sizes of the
luminaire models can be combined to
generate a strong identity and statement,” Anders explains further.
“The fitting breathes quality with
its sculpted form complimented by the
choice of materials. Due to its classic
shape it can be used for many different
types of brands. As applicable to an
ultra-modern environment, with its
simplistic and stylised design, as a typical Danish retro-style from the 60-70’s.”
What we can take from Anders is
that the function for this type of luminaire is almost endless. It can be used as
a wall module in a shops staircase or
escalator, areas which a good solution
can be hard to find due to the ceiling
heights. This approach additionally
51
helps simplify maintenance, as you
don’t need to access the high ceilings
and the longevity of the LED light source
reduces the need for regular replacements.
Another, slightly more obvious
approach would be to use Tibi as a
decorative/ ambient luminaire by the
cash-desk or in a lounge area. Using
this solution in a fitting room addresses the need for good general lighting,
while additionally creating a really nice
atmosphere.
To use the luminaires in a more
artistic way, you can create patterns
in the ceiling that will ‘lead the way’
for customers in the store. This can be
should slow down, look around and pay
attention to the surroundings.
achieved by mixing sizes or clustering
in different shapes for visual interest or
by a more linear alignment. Combining
rows of fittings with a configuration can
communicate to the visitor that they
interior in black and white I think Appereo will match perfectly,” Erik continues.
“It would be really fantastic in a
very minimalistic and exclusive shop,”
Anders concludes.
appareo
Next up is Appareo, an innovative and
slim LED pendant.
“This product is super-minimalistic,
and has an impressively even light
distribution. But due to the very modern
design it could be limited in how many
different shop environments it could be
suitable in,” Anders explains.
“I know what you mean. I can
picture it in a shop that sell electronics
or in a car shop, for instance over cashier
desks. It can also work in a cluster with
circles over a car expo. In a shop with an
pozzo
Pozzo is a very familiar product for many
Fagerhult customers but now it has
been released with a diameter of a 1000
mm.
“The big version of Pozzo is
something our customers have been
waiting for quite some time,” Anders
says.
“It will really enhance the identity
of the shop and make it memorable,
but will also compliment the rest of the
smaller Pozzo family members.”
“In terms of use and function the
Pozzo family is quite similar to Tibi. It
creates a large illuminated surface that
will raise attention in larger stores. You
can also use them to create patterns
and direction in the shop, as with Tibi.
While it can create identity it is also a
great luminaire for general lighting.”
creative creation
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52
Western Europe’s first Factory Store with the new upgraded concept.
They Just Do It
Static brands and uniform shop concepts - today’s retail premises aren’t exactly
thriving. Consumers demand dynamic changes and energetic variations to
stimulate their shopping. Nike is a brand that clearly “gripped” this.
they are the world-leading supplier of
athletic shoes and apparel. Named after
the Greek goddess of victory, they have
urged millions of people to ‘Just Do it’
and they are strongly associated with its
famous ‘Swoosh’. We are talking about,
of course, Nike. This powerful brand has
incorporated several shop concepts in
their worldwide offering to reach out to
their different target groups. The ligh-
they just do it
ting design has also been an important
part of creating the right atmosphere
within these concepts, so we decided to
take a closer look at a few of them.
Retail is the place where brands
come face-to-face with consumers and
can tell their ‘story‘ directly to them,
unfiltered. The Nike stores around the
world have slightly different appearances and product offerings but still share
the same philosophy. Performance,
youthful energy and references of
athletics are consistent throughout,
whether it’s stated by lockers, gym
carpets, rubber running surfaces or
mannequins on the move. Their flagship
stores take these physical environments
to new levels, however the principles
are continued in varying degrees across
their store portfolio. A few examples of
53
which are Nike Owned Stores, Partner
Stores and Factory Stores, all inspired by
the gym, the court and the stadium as
the main element of store design. But is
there anything that distinguishes these
different concepts? Well despite the fact
they share a joint brand platform they
all have different expressions, materials
and atmospheres.
nike owned stores
The Nike Owned Stores are their exclusive premium concept. It pays homage
to the corporation’s heritage through
references of running tracks and sports
fields. The mannequins and the large
distinctive wooden panels outlining
the walls play a leading role in the
concept. The mannequins are designed
‘in-motion’; running, tackling, jumping,
shooting and interacting. Furthermore
the interior is unpretentious and experimental with every finish (detailed wood,
>>
In the main sales area iTrack with Marathon LED and iTrack Line luminaires are installed.
they just do it
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54
One of Nike's Owned Stores - a stylish concept of brick- and wood walls combined with black displays.
glass and steel components) methodically designed to bring associations with
power and the latest products without
being to thematic.
partner stores
The Partner Stores have a clean, dark
setting. Materials such as industrial
pendants, wooden panels behind the
counters, linking to the Nike Owned
Stores, and wooden displays on which
the mannequins are placed illustrate
this approach. The conceptual lighting
design, developed by Fagerhult, is based
on contrasts, shadows and accent lighting to give an interesting visual experience enhancing the desired image.
Since cylindrical spotlights were
preferred, Marathon was the perfect
choice for this concept, joined by
recessed Pleiad Power. Pistachio green
they just do it
pendants, with metallic wire guards,
were installed in groups to emphasise primary areas of the shop, such
as clusters containing a combination
of wooden bleacher podiums with
product, mannequin presentations and
seats. This eye-catching luminaire suits
the atmosphere brilliantly. For future
lighting concept development a LED
technology solution will be considered.
factory stores
The Nike Factory Stores are aimed at
value customers, offering a wide selection of Nike branded footwear, apparel
and accessories for the entire family. The
product selections are from previous
seasons and are sold at reduced prices.
These shops are more rational and functional in terms of design than the Nike
experience or evolution stores. However,
the storytelling and product presentation execution result in a consistent
premium shopping environment.
Handed with the objective to
translate a previous light installation,
Fagerhult created a solution with products and ideas that was optimised for
the new circumstances. The conceptual
lighting design was based on a stringent
brief demanding energy efficiency with
a highly considered light plan that still
delivered an interesting visual experience. And, with decreased energy consumption from approximately 20-25 W/
m² to 8-15 W/m² (excluding pendants
and LED wall washers), the objective
was fulfilled.
The Nike Factory Store concepts
have recently been upgraded and, consequently, so has the lighting design,
to incorporate flexible iTrack combined
55
>>
with iTrack Line, Dupio and Marathon
LED spotlights. The iTrack solution
supports additional energy efficiency
with LED and DALI controlling possibilities. It is also much easier to adjust
the luminaires once the displays and
interior change. In the narrow and high
aisles, the modifiable reflectors of Dupio
enables the full effect and function
of the light to be focused in the right
places with mannequins and graphics
accentuated by Marathon LED.
The latest Factory Store opened
in Munich and showcases Western
Europe’s first shop with the upgraded
global Factory concept. Nicholas Carter,
Product Presentation Director at Nike
European Headquarters, describes the
advancements.
“The most significant change is the
use of materials, moving away from the
current palette of white and chrome, to
the use of warmer, richer materials. This
environment was designed to strongly
connect with the consumer and to
sport.”
“On the consumers journey through
out the shop they will still recognize features linked to Nike; industrial stadium
style lighting, gym bleachers, a heritage
of compelling sport images and the
locker room signage defining the fitting
rooms. And finally, at the moment of
truth, when they make a purchase there will be a reminder to ‘Just Do it’,”
Nicholas continues.
“We look forward to enriching the
marketplace and reconnecting once
more with our consumers by bringing
the new global Factory Stores concept
to life in additional Factory Stores
throughout Europe,” he concludes.
In this article only a few concepts
have been acknowledged but still it
gives a hint of how one of the largest
shoe and apparel brands work with
their physical shop platform. At Nike
everything is considered, from interior
details and merchandise layout to different lighting installations. They also
have a clear goal; to elevate product
presentation and to create a dynamic
and energetic consumer experience
and, of course, to and be inspired.
Nike successfully engages customers to a world of athleticism and aims
their offering and products towards
them. How? What about constant reinvention, development and exploration
of new concepts, materials and details.
Well, they Do It – and they do it without
losing their soul and passion for the
heritage and the future of sports.
The Partner Store concept.
they just do it
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56
fusing past and present
57
Fusing past
and present
Solo, one of Sweden’s most well-known jeans brands,
incorporates vintage influences to illustrate a genuine
denim atmosphere in their shops.
Sebastian Hellström.
Solo
Varner Group, the largest player in the
Norwegian textile retailing trade, owns
the Swedish retail brand Solo. Currently
Solo has eleven stores in Sweden, supplying men and women with high-quality
brand jeans and other clothing.
industrial lamps, brick walls, iron
hooks and mahogany displays - when
entering a Solo shop you travel a few
decades back in time. Particularly if you
take a close look at some of the carefully
worn out accessories around the store.
But don’t be fooled; despite the rustic
interior the shop is filled with trendy
high-quality brands that attract young,
hip, adults.
The new concept, developed by
Solos in-house department, has a heavy
emphasis on natural material such as
wood, concrete and copper. Sebastian
Hellström, Operative & Marketing
manager at Solo, explains that the idea
of the renewed shop concept was to
capture the essence of the legacy of
denim.
“Our core business is jeans and
that’s what we feel passionate about.
Therefore, we wanted to create a raw,
industrial shop environment with old,
genuine materials that would complement the merchandise,” Sebastian says.
“And what’s great about this
concept is that it will age beautifully, it
will feel even more right tomorrow than
today,” he continues.
The interior design is deliberately
lighter at the far end of the shop where
the women’s fashion is displayed,
creating an impact which has a more
androgynous feel in this section.
Sebastian explains that it was
important that the lighting enhanced
the essential parts of the shop. The light
levels should be soft and comfortable
while the luminaires should be concealed as much as possible.
Amongst the latest of Solo's
openings was in Emporia, one of
Scandinavia’s largest shopping malls.
This particular shop was not only furnished with the latest interior concept,
it was also the first one supplied with a
complete LED solution. Consequently,
the lighting concept was brand new and
included a large amount of integrated
lighting in shelves and displays.
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58
Carefully selected industrial pendants harmonise with the rest of the vintage interior.
>>
“We wanted to enhance the interior
and at the same time make the displays
blend in with the merchandise itself. We
also tried to use integrated LED in the
shelves, from higher to lower levels, to
help the customer recognize products
further down in the displays,” Kristian
Renström, Key Account Manager at
mounted spotlights above the widespread iron cluster in the ceiling. Another
challenge was to produce satisfactory
light levels.
“We tried to create contrasts while
maintaining a moderate light level in
the shop,” Kristian Renström explains.
“In terms of ambiance we actually
atmospheres that fused together really
well,” Kristian continues.
In summary this total LED solution achieved the desired effects and
complemented the elaborated interior
concept. The lighting did not only provide a perfect ambiance, it decreased
the energy levels to 23-24 w/m² in
Fagerhult explains.
One of the client’s requirements
was for the accentuating spotlights to
be seen as little as possible. This was
accomplished by installing the track-
divided the shop in two sections; the
back area where there were brighter
light levels and the wooden interior
area, where they are more dimmed.
This method created two different
comparison to a metal halide solution
where it would have been approximately 33-34w/m².
59
"This is an interior concept
that will age beautifully, it
will feel even more right
tomorrow than today."
Sebastian Hellström, Operative & Marketing Manager, Solo
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60
In the skylights on the third floor there are fixtures to take over when daylight is not enough.
illuminating emporia
61
Illuminating
Emporia
Carl Martinsson, lighting designer at Fagerhult met up
with one of Sweden’s most renowned lighting designer
Niklas Ödmann, PLDA member (The Professional Lighting
Designers' Association) and co-founder of the company
“Black Lighting Design” to talk about the way the light
was shaped within Emporia.
text carl martinsson
interacting is the word which best describes the concept behind Emporia. It’s
not only a place where people meet and
gather but also where the interaction
between light and architecture occurs.
With its 93 000 square meters,
Emporia was quite a large project to
take on. The process started back in
2008, when lighting designers at ‘Black’
were able to work closely with the architects at Wingårdhs. Niklas describes the
process:
“There are so many different materials and colours in this project that
collaboration was crucial. Sometimes
you have to step back and take in other
opinions. This is what creates the context and shapes the entire experience.
As the project progressed, some things
changed and naturally so did the light.”
“We were able to set up test surfaces, which allowed us to elaborate on
Niklas Ödmann, Lighting designer.
Black Lighting Design
Black Lighting Design is a company
owned and managed by Alexander Cederroth and Niklas Ödmann. The company's
client focus is widely spread between
Architects, governmental departments,
the private sector and real estate owners.
Black strives to always create sustainable
lighting systems with a high level of
creativity both for in- and outdoor architectural environments.
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62
Facts about the lighting design
Property owner: Lighting design:
First lighting designer: Second lighting designer:
Electrical engineer: Project start up:
Project finish:
Steen & Ström
Black LightingDesign
Niklas Ödmann
Fredrik Amnäs, Jannica Wikander
ÅF Gothenburg
2008
2012
63
"There is an awareness about
the importance of light when creating
sustainable and socially aware
spaces as well as commercial ones."
Niklas Ödmann, Lighting designer, Black Lighting Design
>>
our different ideas. We started with the
entrances and all the gathering spaces.
so we could go in deep and worked a
lot with for example the shade, coating
These areas are important for people to
interact in, so we wanted to let the light
follow and enhance the architecture
there,” Niklas explains.
“By the the main squares, called the
‘ocean’ and the ‘flower garden’, there are
profile fixtures that cast patterns on the
floor. The flower garden has a foliage
related pattern and in the ocean square
there are ripples of light,” he continues.
To avoid an impression that was too
sterile and linear, there are decorative
fixtures situated in selected areas, such
as the food court. The first floor has a
spectacular pyramid shaped corrugated
plastic ceiling and above it fluorescent
fixtures. Along the mall, on floors two
and three, the lighting is primarily
situated above the grid ceiling, consisting of Fagerhult's ‘Strato’metal halide
spotlights mounted on a track.
Black also produced a design
manual to cover the general lighting
concept.
“Today more cities are becoming
interested in working consciously with
their lighting to create a dynamic and
safe environment. There is an awareness about the importance of light in
creating sustainable and socially aware
spaces as well as commercial ones,”
Niklas claim.
The concept consists of many different types of light; direct, indirect, sharp
or diffused. It is more about setting an
atmosphere than being too obvious.
“We had such a free hand to create,
and transparency of the glass. This to
be able to set the light on the background behind the glass. Trying to try to
anticipate how much light that would
come from the stores was a challenge.
We did, however, manage to find a very
comfortable level of light. It´s the combination of colours, textures and shapes
that we wanted to elevate with the light
that makes this an unique experience,”
Niklas concludes.
notes from carl
As I talked to Niklas it became apparent
what levels of effort and dedication
that went into meeting all the lighting
requirements while still making it
look effortless. To make the light ‘just
be there’. With a great respect and
sensitivity Black has created something
that you feel and see but still is so hard
to explain. To me the project seems
immensely big. I deal with stores and
concepts that cover a couple of 100m²
and I know how much time I can spend
on detailed solutions for this.
In my opinion Black have managed
to set the subtle atmospheres they
intended. From outside I was impressed
by the lovely architecture and was really
expecting something that would blow
my mind and entertain instantly. This
was not what I experienced. Instead
once inside, I was slowly cradled into
the mood of a shopper. I felt safe, secure
and really wanted to buy something.
Anything, just anything.
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64
The architects
of tomorrow
What is their relationship to light and how much
focus is there on the subject in their curriculum?
We met up with a few architect students to discuss
their perspectives on light.
the architects of tomorrow
Photo: Amanda Härd
65
"Light is a very significant aspect when it
comes to creating different atmospheres"
Amanda Härd, architect student, Umeå University
what would the world be without
great architectural design; a little bit
duller, unflattering and homogeneous?
A little bit more impractical and characterless? Most definitely. Architecture brings us artistic uniqueness,
energy efficient and functional designs,
eye-catching solutions and creative
concepts; value adding attributes that
make our surrounding and lives much
more enjoyable.
But how much emphasis on light is
there in the world of architecture? An
element not really considered or one of
high importance? We met up with three
‘architects of tomorrow’, one sophomore and two just graduated, to hear their
views on the subject.
Amanda Härd has entered her
second year of architecture at Umeå
University in northern Sweden and has
relatively little experience of incorporating artificial light. At least for now. She
explains that they only spent two weeks
of experimenting with artificial light in
their first year.
“A Polish architect guest-lectured
during these weeks and described his
associations primarily with the art of
light. We rounded-up with a creative
and artistic workshop in which we developed experimental light applications by
using a large spotlight,” Amanda says.
The polish architect Amanda refers
to is Hugo Dworzak, an experienced
designer who has created a number
of special projects in which light has
had a prominent role. In terms of what
resulted from the workshop, Amanda
recalls there were quite a few different
solutions and results.
“Some created light projections on
a wall, some illuminated an installation
of a mist of steam and another group
a fish net in a dark room with selfluminous stars mounted above,” she
explains.
Amanda is quick to add that the
focus of this lecture was very arty and
philosophic – like most of the orientations in their introducing years of architecture. She describes the workshop as
very abstract.
“I guess this exercise was just to
make us consider light and introduce
it to us. It was not that scientific - for
example we did not talk about technical
details such as kelvin, distribution angles or colour rendering,” she explains.
“I do not know if we will develop our
knowledge of artificial light later on or
if this is something that we will have to
add separately to our curriculum. Right
now we are more focused on natural
light and how it can be used in our solutions and concepts,” Amanda continues.
Despite this, Amanda adds that
light is a very significant aspect when it
comes to creating different atmospheres, evoking emotions and affecting how
people feel.
“It is definitely an important tool to
be considered," Amanda concludes.
Two other architectural students we
met were Hanna Mangs and Viktor Roos
whom just completed their final gra-
duation thesis at Chalmers University
of Technology in Gothenburg. Both of
them believe that light is important in
all situations.
“Light has become more and more
important to me when I develop a concept or an idea. Probably because I have
learned how much a room or an entire
building is affected by light, and how
much I can strengthen my concepts
using the right kind of light. The same
room can get totally different qualities
depending on the light I choose - it can
feel spacious, intimate, soft, sharp or
safe solely due to the lighting,” Hanna
explains.
“Overall, I believe light is a bit of an
underrated tool; it affects the perceived
environment and us more than we
think,” she continues.
Viktor described how the students
work with light whilst creating conceptual solutions during their education.
He explained that all their projects conclude with a final review from external
architects as well as from professors
from the school – in this critique there
are often discussions about light.
“We were introduced to the fundamentals of light in our early projects.
We quickly learnt to consider where
the sun is and shadows once sketching.
And now, this is something that comes
naturally. The more I sketch the more
light is integrated in how I present my
final solution.”
Viktor also describes his basic ideas
and thoughts on artificial light, namely
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66
The exterior of Umeå University's School of Architecture. Photo: Mikael Lundgren.
to use it as little as possible. However,
this statement is not as clear cut as it
may appear, as in their projects they
seldom reach the point when artificial
light, or luminaires, are included and
sketched into the solution.
“When natural light plays a part
in the final solution I sketch it - since
beautiful effects often appear in the
sunlight. Artificial light is exclusively
included when I show evening and night
perspectives, which often are the very
last sketches,” Viktor says.
“Luminaires are in the back of my
head, but brightness, light angles and
other technical aspects are not included
in my projects as of now. We don’t have
any specific class considering light
only. There are many other materials I
often use, wood for example, which we
haven’t elaborated on either. I suppose
Hanna Mangs
this can be applied to our knowledge
of light as well. I’m inspired more by
beautiful situations, powerful shadows
and shimmering states than facts about
LED and lux,” Viktor concludes.
A lot of what Hanna learnt about
light has been on her own initiative and
something she included in her projects
during her studies. Actually her final
thesis included a focus on natural light.
“Basically the project was a library
and cultural centre where I chose to
execute different lighting surveys. I tried
to examine how different light qualities
may affect or alter the experience of a
room, how light can define the room,
instead of perhaps a wall, and how light
affects different materials and textures,”
Hanna explains.
“I don’t feel, however, that I have as
much knowledge of artificial light and
that is something I would like to learn
more about. Nowadays artificial light
is very variable and can produce many
different types of light, which I could use
more if I had the right knowledge,” she
concludes.
Meeting these architects of
tomorrow reveals that light is definitely something they value and find
important once creating atmospheres
– but still something quite abstract and
unexplored. It is more or less up to them
how profound they want to indulge in
the world of light. Nevertheless, if faced
with the challenge of creating commercial environments, we hope that we will
encounter these future creators and act
as an inspiring partner of light. Enabling
them to create exactly the atmospheres
and environments envisioned.
retail main office: Fagerhult Retail AB, Rinnavägen 12, SE 517 33, Bollebygd, Sweden, Phone: +46 33 722 15 00, Fax: +46 33 28 58 00, www.fagerhult.com/retail
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