Office For Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) has completed its new Repossi Jewelry Store in Paris, France, which contextually divides the store into three distinct spaces – referred to as street, gallery and salon. Led by OMA Partner Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli, the design covers 90 square-meter in total divided into three storey in the building, and focuses on a basic design idea- the collection of jewellery is experienced and purchased at three different speeds – fast, slow, very slow - each floor responds to the different paces of shopping.

''With Gaia Repossi we have reimagined how space can reinforce jewelry, trying to blend the notions of display and architecture. In our collaboration we have tried to develop a project that questions conventions, through the introduction of unexpected materials and by using architecture as a medium to stage, observe and experience jewellery'' said Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli.

The ground floor is the most public space. It works as an extension of the street providing a quick experience of the store. The first floor is a gallery, the level where the entire Repossi collection is exhibited. The basement is a salon. The most intimate space of the boutique, it allows customized service for clients and patient exploration of special pieces.

The underlying idea for the design was to synthesis architecture and display, using the whole space as a stage for Repossi’s production. Unconventional materials were used, emphasizing this relationship and pulling away from the typical jewelry store. Special colored mirrors developed in collaboration with Dutch designer Sabine Marcelis introduces diverse degrees of reflections and color refractions. Aluminum cladding – both plain and foam - fold over the volume of the staircase and expand onto each floor.

People's movement is an integral component of the project. The wall on the ground floor is conceived as a gigantic rotating billboard with three alternating sides: a bronze colored mirror, a traditional mirror, and a display system. Developed in collaboration with Italian-based manufacture, Goppion, the kinetic installation is both display and architecture, transforming the space while adapting to alternating functions. 

When the jewelry is not displayed, the ground floor is transformed into a pure void, leaving the space free for unlimited occupancies. In the overcrowded retail context of Place Vendome, a ''void'' is the ultimate form of luxury.

The staircase, an imposing presence in the 90 square meter store, is designed by overlapping two vertical systems: a solid excavated mass that extends between the ground floor and the basement, and a light suspended tread floating between the ground floor and the first level. Liberated from the traditional requirements of jewelry display, the new flagship store creates an immersive setting, where jewelry is subtly embedded into an architectural void.

The brand, founded in 1922, previously based in Turin and now in Monaco, recently joined LVMH. Place Vendome is the brand’s only stand-alone store.

Repossi’s Place Vendome store continues OMA’s work in retail, which includes the Prada Epicenter in New York, the Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe) department store in Berlin, and The Harvard Guide to Shopping.

Project Facts

Location: Paris, France

Client: Repossi

Year: 2014-16

Status: Completed

Program: Retail

Partner: Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli

Team: Antonio Barone, Paul Cournet, Leonardos Katsaros, Francesca Lantieri, Kate Lee, Francesco Moncada, Silvia Sandor

Collaborators: 

Local architects: DATA Architectes
Structure engineer: Batiserf
MEP Engineer: BET Louis Choulet
Wall displays and mechanical displays: Goppion
Standing displays: Sice-Previt
Mirrors: Sabine Marcelis Studio

All images © Cyrille Weiner

> via OMA