Salon Alper Derinbogaz has created interiors with amorphous furnitures for Reflect Studio, a design and manufacturing brand focusing on garments and everyday objects.

Named Reflect Studio Store, the project emerges as two-store series created specifically for the brand to reflect the mission and identity of Reflect Studio. 

Located in Istanbul, Turkey, the completion of the two stores shows how textile and architectural practices are brought together in a single space.

The architect closely worked with Reflect Studio’s creative director Furkan Temir "who expresses a vision of a brand inspired by an enthusiasm for what’s next." 

Conceived as a simple, tech-driven and fluid space, the interior features amorphous, grey and pink-colored shelves, a frozen textile stool, a water ripple changing room, airplane-wing bench and sigma profile hangers.

Alper Derinboğaz, the founder of Salon, takes cues from natural forms and combines it with the advanced possibilities of technology, including Artificial intelligence (AI) and boat-building technology.

"Reflecting a more hopeful and somewhat romantic outlook for the future, these spaces are meant to realize an updated approach to modernism in the new post-Covid era," said the architect.

"A generative process that mimics nature’s evolutionary approach"

The design of the furniture also emerges as "an updated portrayal of our ever-evolving relationship with nature" by focusing on the use of upcycling and recycling processes. 

"Rather than designing the finished objects, we adopted a generative process that mimics nature’s evolutionary approach," said Alper Derinboğaz. 

According to the architect, "it is operating as an iterative process to generate furniture forms designed by AI." 

"By employing boat-building technology, these digital forms were transformed into physical objects with high precision," he added.

Concepts of new nature, optimistic futurism, fluidity, and object autonomy

The goal of the project is to move the commercial motives of shopping experiences into another level, where explores exceptional ideas, the future of sustainability and requestion of the nature of unique materials.

"The inherent experimental nature of the space is meant to materialize a future that has been reset to our existing perceptions," said the office.

"Brought to life by equal input from AI algorithms and human factors, the store becomes a space where humans and non-human generated objects can interact with each other in a new nature," the office added.

The store consists of a maker's area, three showrooms, a changing room, a storage and a payment area.

While the play of geometry is derived from the creation of process and materials, the team pays attention to the curation of space, aiming to bring a common optimism that pushes boundaries about the future of space design. 

According to the studio, "it is an approach that recognizes its fluidity and validates its need for change." 

The muted interior features recycled metal terrazzo flooring, a frozen textile stool, a water ripple changing unit, sigma profile hangers, a green airplane-wing bench, and AI-generated furniture. 

The futuristic elements become the protagonist of design to make up the physical space of the Reflect Studio Stores.

Waste recycled to create new materials

The core principle of the project is based on the recycling of production waste, which was tested in detail. The reason of this was to look at the new nature of the furniture on what it means to be sustainable within this new nature.

"The project seeks to create experimental composites diversified with production techniques that recycle surplus materials belonging to the production phases of textile and architectural practices," said the studio.

The studio used waste aluminum parts to create a recycled metal terrazzo flooring that features an aggregate of black chips. The material becomes a durable and maintenance-free element.

A frozen textile stool is made from leftover fabrics obtained from the textile production phases. The fabrics were fixed with resin and transformed into a frozen textile stool.

Epoxy resin shelves are recycled and acquired from plastic packaging bags, that accumulated as a result of the production process.

A water ripple changing room, which was fabricated through a stamping process of reflective steel sheets, adds dynamism and energy. "The surface blurs all the contours inside and evokes disillusionment of the body in space," according to the studio.

In front of the changing room, the team adds a green airplane-wing bench, with its carcass structure, minimizes the section thickness of the metal material in use and reflects the image of an aerodynamic object.

Designed to push the idea of (Do-It-Yourself) DIY behavior, sigma profiles are used to allow fast, mechanical, and versatile design possibilities for the hangers.

Lighting, used to as a complementary element, homogeneously distributes lighting throughout the ceiling that works bilaterally to create desired focus points. 

"Facing downward, they illuminate the space, facing upward they accent the environment by tinting negative space," the studio added.

"This special design feature of the lighting fixtures allows a programmable atmosphere in contrast to the isolated climate of the malls where stores are located."

Besides its aesthetic, sleek and tactile features, the store is a home to the brand's collections, a selection of sustainable sneakers, and the flexible space where products can be personalized or repaired with a heat press or embroidery machine.

Conceptual diagram

Form generation

Floor Plan of Akasya Store

Floor Plan of Kanyon Store

Both studios, Salon Alper Derinbogaz and Reflect Studio, plan to meet again in the near future with the office space design by Salon Alper Derinboğaz for the headquarters of Reflect Studio.

Salon Alper Derinbogaz recently released a new book, Geospaces, exploring the idea of "empathy with the earth", and more recently, he launched his book at AIA New York Center Of Architecture on 15 February. 

Salon was awarded the WA Awards with three projects in previous cycles: National Science And Innovation Centre Of Lithuania, PARKOPERA, Office Central. 

The award winning architecture studio produces projects in the fields of architecture, art, interior design and urbanism. Istanbul-based Salon has offices in Berlin and Los Angeles.

Project facts

Project name: Reflect Studio Store

Architects: Salon Alper Derinboğaz 

Date: September 2022

Location: Istanbul, Turkey

Architect: Alper Derinboğaz  

Project Team: Nida Dilara Karışık, Mert Ozan Er, Tuğba Arslantürk, Aleyna Türker, Büge Yaman

Client: Reflect Studio 

Creative Direction: Furkan Temir  

Electromechanical Engineering: Planet Teknik

All images © Mojo Studio.

All drawings © Salon Alper Derinbogaz.

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