136_Catalina Guerra: Comme des Garçons Boutique
Catalina Guerra
Information about my self: So I was born in Bogota, Colombia but I am currently studying in the United States at The Savannah College of Art and Design. I am in my senior year of Architecture.
Project name:
Comme des Garçons Boutique
Project Description:
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Building Typology: Commercial/ Retail
The concept that has led the design of this project is the ambiguity between the interior and the exterior objects. The ambivalent volume is created by the juxtaposition of the spaces created by the different objects. The super-component composite shell, as well as interior objects, ground condition, and articulation/tattoo work together to create the overall shape, but at the same time, they work against each other, creating uncertainty regarding the parts that integrate the discrete object provoking a sense of mysterious depth beyond the superficial qualities. In certain spaces objects differentiate from each other by their defining edges and contrasting colors, meanwhile, in other spaces, objects blend into one another.
The overall shape was inspired on the fashion postures from the Japanese fashion label Comme des Garcons, which represent the contrast between sharps and smooth edges that create high and low points of intersection and unknown depth. The interior spaces are defined by the combination of two internal objects that confronts the form of each other creating tension between spaces as well as, an interior void at the center of the building, which establishes a separation among the interior objects and generates a vertical circulation between spaces. The interior objects define the articulations and the cuts of the super-component composite shell that seem to wrap the interior objects. The ground condition is defined by the crystalline edges of the mass above which is nested in it, creating loose-fit and tight-fit spaces to the outer shell of the object. The ground is, in fact, another part of the building composed of two objects in which visitors descent to lobby of the building. The ground condition creates transitional spaces that alludes the concept of ambiguity; being inside the building, but at the same time being inside of something else unknowing what truly is the interior and what is the exterior.
Instagram user: @cg_architecture
