DDi - October 2010 - (Page 24)

24 | Design Snapshot Fruits of design RK Apothecary debuts in Santa Monica with an organically inspired retail space By Sarah Goddard R |ÊOc Photos: Todd Weaver K Apothecary, which specializes in highend bath and body products, is a spatially efficient and visually engaging retail space that has debuted in Frank Gehry’s new Edgemar Retail Complex in Santa Monica, Calif. Designed by The Los Angeles Design Group LLC (The LADG), the luxury retail space opened in August and features some unique and flexible display fixtures. When taking on this design project, The LADG knew creativity would be of the utmost importance. The existing interior was small, dense and offered a host of challenges, including structural and mechanical elements that could not be altered. In response to the interior spatial constraints, The LADG tinkered with unique displays designed to imitate the posture of water-filled ice bags in order to navigate difficult fits between columns and oddly planned corners. The result is a unique assortment of fixtures—nicknamed “outré fruit”—that are not only pragmatic solutions to a design challenge, but also are aesthetic objects themselves. The freestanding outré fruit displays are inspired by the anatomy of fruit, where the exterior gives little clue to the structural nature of the interior. Designed to move the merchandise off of static wall shelving, the fixtures play a central role in the store design and encourage customer interaction with product. Even more intriguing, a peek inside the outré fruit reveals an exotic interior amid dramatic red hues. Designers Andrew Holder and Claus Benjamin Freyinger were inspired by the works of Italian artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio and Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Reubens. “These artists used fruit as sumptuous, scenesetting devices in exactly the way we hoped to deploy our outré fruit to present product in the store,” the design duo states. “In that sense, the outré fruit is set afloat inside the environment and piled with tempting objects to browse.” Combining organically inspired fixtures with whimsical touches, the design of RK Apothecary showcases merchandise with an otherworldly approach. toberÊ2010 www.ddionline.com http://www.ddionline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DDi - October 2010

Display & Design Ideas - October 2010
Contents
From the Editor
Newsworthy
Shopper Insights
Quick Tips
Greentailing
Editor’s Choice
Design Snapshot
Design Snapshot
Jets/Giants Pro Shop
Coming to America
DDI 2010 State of the Retail Design Industry
Channel Focus: Menswear
CB2
Right Light
In-Store Technology
Product Spotlight
Calendar
Advertisers
Ownership Statement
Classifieds
Shopping with Paco

DDi - October 2010