OMA goes to Tokyo
Designed by Shohei Shigematsu and OMA’s New York office, Coach’s newest flagship store opened on Omotesando, a prominent retail corridor in Tokyo.
The flagship design features a facade of 210 stacked, translucent display boxes in a herringbone pattern of vertical and horizontal orientation that accommodate the brand’s wide repertoire of products. In addition to the facade, OMA designed a “floating” tower of 105 illuminated acrylic units that encase the store’s central stair, drawing pedestrians to the upper level. Consolidating the display on the facade and circulation creates a condition in which the shopper is continuously surrounded by Coach’s products, while simultaneously liberating floor space.
Says Shigematsu, “In comparison to the increasingly decorative elevations that characterize Omotesando, OMA’s design integrates display into the facade, communicating an uninterrupted survey of Coach’s full collection with its storefront. Viewed from the interior, the display units seamlessly provide an active backdrop for merchandise, filtering Omotesando’s streetscape into the shopping experience.”
Says Coach Japan president and CEO Daniel DiCicco, “We are delighted by the limitless possibilities to utilize OMA’s design, which provides an innovative environment to curate our full range of lifestyle merchandise. It is certain to become a shopping landmark in Tokyo.”
This is OMA’s second collaboration with Coach – following a kiosk designed for Macy’s in New York – and the office’s first built work in Tokyo.
ABOUT OMA
OMA is a leading international office practicing architecture, urbanism, and cultural analysis. OMA is led by seven partners and sustains an international practice with offices in Rotterdam, New York, Beijing, Hong Kong and Doha. Responsible for projects in the Americas, OMA New York, has overseen the completion of Milstein Hall at Cornell University (2011), the Wyly Theatre in Dallas (with REX, 2009), Seattle Central Library (2004), the Prada Epicenters in Los Angeles (2004) and New York (2001), and the IIT Campus Center in Chicago (2003). Under the direction of partner Shohei Shigematsu, the New York office is currently overseeing the construction of the Musée national des beaux-arts du Quebec, while also developing designs for the Marina Abramovi Institute in upstate New York, a renovation and urban plan for the Miami convention center, and an art foundation in Manila, Philippines.
OMA’s recently completed projects include the new headquarters for China Central Television in Beijing and New Court, Rothschild’s headquarters in London, and Maggie’s Center in Glasgow. OMA-designed buildings under construction include Shenzhen Stock Exchange and De Rotterdam, a mixed-use building on the river Maas.
For more information, visit oma.com.