ARTSHIP design store and exhibition space | Lapis Bureau (LxB)

Freddy Curiél and Deborah Campana from Lapis Bureau (LxB) recently completed a  design store in Shanghai, inside Kengo Kuma’s renovated warehouse project.

Located on the upper floor of the Harbor City MIFA1862, a former warehouse for reparation of large boats recently renovated by renown Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, this new design-dedicated space called ARTSHIP is hosting temporary exhibitions and showcasing different design brands (such as MoMA Design Store, Cassina, Moooi) within an open space floor plan of around 1500 square meters.  

The structure of the building left exposed and the raw details of the architecture, led us to choose a minimal yet sophisticated look for the interiors of the design store, in order to let the various and colorful products on display there to play the major role onto a raw industrial background canvas. 

Each floor has an open balustrade corridor facing an internal full height space, and acts as a continuous “boardwalk” between the different displays and the central existing raw structure of the building. The railings are cladded with either glass or a metal-net mesh, in order to enhance the atmosphere of the open-space and the visibility between different areas. 

Metallic grids have been used as well for the counter-ceiling in the circulation space and for the main access gates on the first floor, purposely resembling a Mondrian pattern structure with some colorful glass insertions. Chromed panels instead scattered on the ceiling above the display area, will be installed in a second phase, in order to reflect and duplicate the colors of the products. A set of white lacquered modular display cupboards can be used stand-alone as pedestals, or combined as Tetris pieces in different clusters combination; such customs cupboards have different shapes, sizes and heights in order to be able to host any kind of products. 

“The white lacquered displays, scattered on the raw polished concrete floor, act as three-dimensional sculptural canvas enhancing each and every design product” say the duo of Italian architects.

The layout is fluid and dynamic in order to underline and catch the space potentials. Multiple combinations of display tables, together with the free standing walls, give visitors a personal experience of the space and allows new store views each time. The subtle presence of white volumes within the retail space matches with the background of the renovated architecture and its strong character, where modern minimal design and raw industrial environment clash in a unique scenario.

Open to the public since early October 2018, Artship is the first completed intervention within the MIFA 1862, that will be dedicated to design and art activities, as well as hosting top brands and restaurants within such unique space facing the river in north Pudong, that is destined to be one of the most successful new design districts in Shanghai.

The design is not only providing an eco-friendly solution through energy efficiency (low consumption lights, enhancement of natural light diffusion through permeable partitions and ceiling mirrors) and responsible use of resources (re-using metal meshes and recycled wood, and leaving the building structure exposed) but also through spatial solutions: sustainability means also being able to adapt to changes and future usage.

The displays and interior decorations are made to be flexible and to adapt not only to any item exhibited but also for possible changes of function or shifting of the activity elsewhere.