Contract - July/August 2011 - (Page 84)

Standing elegantly, yet emphatically like a sleek exclamation point on a side street in Tokyo’s chic Omotesando area, the new Marc Jacobs flagship in the Japanese capital distinguishes itself from its flashier neighbors with a subtler, sophisticated profile. At the same time, the streamlined tripartite building is entirely at ease in its context. Designed by Stephan Jaklitsch, principal of New York–based Jaklitsch / Gardner Architects, the store is the most recent architectural expression of the Marc Jacobs brand, which Jaklitsch has refined over the course of a 12-year relationship with the company. The first freestanding emporium constructed for Marc Jacobs, it also graciously adapts the American designer’s brand to the polished Japanese market it caters to. Framed by Cartier and Prada stores on one side and a residential area on the other, the 2,800-square-foot boutique needed to “straddle the two universes,” Jaklitsch says. “You’re looking down a street lined with retail monuments, Vuitton, Christian Dior— everyone’s built shops along this stretch and each is iconic,” the architect explains. To create a structure that would hold its own in this rarefied, hyper-stylish environment, the architect took advantage of a quirk in the area’s zoning regulations that limits the occupied portion of buildings in the neighborhood to two stories high. His solution: double the apparent height of the building by constructing a “ghost wall” along the roof’s perimeter. Form as function Departing from his original plan to create a monolithic structure, Jaklitsch opted instead to divide the vertical volume into three parts, characterizing each with distinct exterior materials—massive glass panels for the luminous accessories level at the base; jagged black terracotta tile for the women’s wear area on the second floor; and perforated aluminum cladding for the parallelogram-shaped structure at the top. Rather than using explicit signage on the aluminum panelling, the architect cut a faceted jewel-like pattern into them so that, when backlit at night, the building’s perceived height is elevated by its glittering crown. “It’s a more understated approach, and I think that’s truer to the Marc Jacobs brand,” says Jaklitsch, who 84 contract july/august 2011 www.contractdesign.com http://www.contractdesign.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Contract - July/August 2011

Contract - July/August 2011
Contents
Editorial
Industry News
Product Focus: Change it Up
Product Focus: Angling for Attention
Product Focus: (Good) Writing on the Wall
Product Focus: Come Together
Best of NeoCon® 2011
Making a Marc
Becoming Kate
Ray of Light
True Blue
Nature Speaks
A New Home
Bloomie's New Edition
Shring to Fitness
Practice: Smaller, Sustainable Retail
Trends: Retail Retrofit
Designers Select: Fabrics
Sources
Ad Index
Perspectives

Contract - July/August 2011