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SOFTlab creates a hanging garden made up of natural materials in Seoul’s flagship store
Korea, South Architecture News - Jan 06, 2016 - 14:23 9258 views
all images © Innisfree
SOFTlab was commissioned by Innisfree to produce a permanent installation for their flagship store in Myeongdong Seoul. Innisfree is a skin care company that uses green tea leaves from Jeju Island in almost all of their products. We extended their use of natural materials through our material choices in an interior installation that mimics a hanging garden. The main canopy structure is made of laser cut white oak wood veneer to match the fixtures in the store. The canopy hangs below a backlit ceiling that mimics sunlight coming through a greenhouse.
The veneer lattice like structure allows the even light from the greenhouse roof to filter into the store. Specific “open” zones were mapped out in the store that are framed by portions of the installation that hang lower. When the surface becomes vertical the veneer structure is with petal like elements that give the installation a plant like feel.
These petals are made of recycled tangerine paper that is used in the packaging for Innisfree products. This collaboration with Innisfree was a great opportunity for us to extend our use of materials. The combination of natural materials with what is a very precise and mostly digital process produced a surprisingly welcoming installation.
SOFTlab also designed the façade treatment for the store that extends the installation onto the exterior by using similar petal like elements. These were made out of powder coated aluminum and dissolve towards the street. Random petals have LED light fixtures behind them to give the façade more of a presence at night.
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