Acclaimed architect Christian de Portzamparc‘s striking flower-inspired design for the Dior flagship store in Seoul, which opened its doors in 2015, now has a European equivalent in Geneva. Situated on rue du Rhône, the city’s golden mile of luxury shopping, the store occupies a six-storey building with a striking façade, featuring six, seemingly upward moving petals which are a nod to designer Christian Dior‘s iconic couture creations. Between these petals, the glass walls let the sun’s rays penetrate in a captivating interplay of light and shade, a poetic dialogue between the inside and outside. Inside, the various settings, designed by Dior‘s in-house design team, reference the Dior flagship of all flagships on avenue Montaigne in Paris in multiple ways. A subtle Ariadne’s thread is produced within the edifice by a wall running across all floors that displays the unmistakable white canvases—expressions in volume of a drawing, the starting point of the collections, which then give life to the haute couture silhouettes. The various rooms on the premises are airy and light-filled yet also intimate and full of artisanal finishes.
The elegant furnishings are adorned with touches of ivory and gold, and hints of white and blue. The pieces consoles made by Berlin-based Atelier Stefan Leo and side tables from Hamrei. Elevating the shopping experience is a wide range of curated artworks by leading artists from Switzerland and across the planet, including Pamela Rosenkranz, Ugo Rondinone, William Coggin, Martin Kline and Dashiell Manley, in homage to Christian Dior who was also a gallery owner and collector. Some of his precious archival sketches dot the walls, accompanied by iconic photographs taken by Brigitte Niedermair. The private salon also boasts an immersive fresco by François Mascarello. Inspired by the paintings of Ferdinand Hodler and Cuno Amiet, this composition exalts the beauty of nearby Lake Geneva landscapes. But that’s still not all—thirteen spectacular artworks by Thomas Trum adorn the staircase. The new Dior flagship store carries the full women’s collection designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri, Kim Jones‘ men’s collection, and the jewellery collection designed by Victoire de Castellane. © superfuture.com
Dior
rue du Rhône 70
1204 Geneva
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Publishers Note
Just to be clear – superfuture® is a design blog and not a political commentator. No surprise there. The scope of our content has always been global and borderless, however that can often mean covering projects in countries where we will not agree with the politics or actions of those countries. In a world that’s as screwed up as ever right now, the focus of our support is to those designers, architects and other creatives who aim to make the world a more liveable one – as opposed to people that try their hardest to destroy it. So if a project hits our desk and we like it based on its design credentials, we may choose to publish regardless of its location or creators nationality. superfuture® has always been inclusive and hopes for all current wars, aggression, violence, hate and extremism to end.
