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Kengo Kuma and Associates renovates Camper’s first shop in Barcelona with vault-shaped ceramic plates

Spain Architecture News - Dec 28, 2018 - 06:14   18023 views

Kengo Kuma and Associates renovates Camper’s first shop in Barcelona with vault-shaped ceramic plates

A series of vault-shaped ceramic plates are locked to each other for the first shop of Camper in Barcelona, a contemporary footwear brand from the island of Mallorca, Spain.

The 80-square-metre space has been renovated by acclaimed Japanese architect Kengo Kuma's firm Kengo Kuma and Associates by using traditional ceramic tiles to draw attention to individual products and connect two distinct cultures – Spain and Japan.

Kengo Kuma and Associates renovates Camper’s first shop in Barcelona with vault-shaped ceramic plates

Kengo Kuma and Associates renovates Camper’s first shop in Barcelona with vault-shaped ceramic plates

This is the second project of Camper realized in collaboration with Kengo Kuma. The first Camper together project with Kengo Kuma was created at the Via Montenapoleone store in Milan in 2014. 

The store was constructed according to the sensitivities of a shoe and multiplied to become a more complex construction, lending a new dimension to the space.

Kengo Kuma and Associates renovates Camper’s first shop in Barcelona with vault-shaped ceramic plates

Named Camper Paseo de Gracia, the store - facing the Plaza Catalonia, is highlighted by the aggregation of traditional ceramic tiles that are either used as a showcase space or the architectural component nailed to the surface of the ceiling.

Kengo Kuma and Associates renovates Camper’s first shop in Barcelona with vault-shaped ceramic plates

The architects renewed the space using vault-shaped ceramic plates as the mold to install floor slab, which is the revolutionary method of construction born in Catalonia. 

Kengo Kuma and Associates renovates Camper’s first shop in Barcelona with vault-shaped ceramic plates

"Conventionally, floors had been supported by wooden beams. The idea was such epoch-making that Gaudi drew a lot of hints from this Catalan vault," stated in a project description.

Kengo Kuma and Associates renovates Camper’s first shop in Barcelona with vault-shaped ceramic plates

The Catalan vault functions as the basic unit of the furniture in the shop, from shelves, benches and counters to place the shoes and gives a warm and friendly atmosphere that reflects the culture of Catalonia.

Kengo Kuma and Associates renovates Camper’s first shop in Barcelona with vault-shaped ceramic plates

Project facts

Project name: Camper Paseo de Gracia

Location: Barcelona, Spain

Date: 2018.03-11

Program: retail

Size: 80 m2

Partners in charge: Kengo Kuma, Javier Villar Ruiz

Project team: Jaime Fernandez Calvache (PM), Nicola Maniero, Ludovica Cirillo, Kimio Suzuki (visualizations)

Client: Camper

Contractor: Norden GSE, S.L.U.

Lighting designer: Viabizzuno

Ceramist: Ceramica Cumella

All images © Imagen Subliminal (Miguel de Guzman + Rocio Romero)

> via Kengo Kuma and Associates