24-03-2021
Nax Architects designs Cosmetea’s pop-up shop in Shanghai
Nax Architects,
Raitt Liu,
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- Nax Architects designs Cosmetea’s pop-up shop in Shanghai
![Nax Architects designs Cosmetea’s pop-up shop in Shanghai
Nax Architects designs Cosmetea’s pop-up shop in Shanghai](https://www.floornature.com/media/photos/38/16167/03_TimeTunnelCosmotea_NaxArchitects_BenmoStudio_home_sez.jpg)
Cosmetea took care of the urban renewal of the space as part of an organic micro-regeneration of old neighbourhoods, opening a pop-up store in the vacant storefront. The company commissioned Nax Architects for the project, who gave the space a new identity inspired by the Cosmetea logo.
The architects transformed the existing storefront, measuring only 9 square metres, into a sort of cave: a sunken space in which a stainless steel mirror lit up with LED lights is combined with a big window bringing the urban and natural landscape right into the store to blur the boundaries between inside and outside. Metaphorically speaking, the shop is like a "time tunnel”.
The entire space incorporates creative, visual and sensorial aspects, without concealing the conflict between past and future, which in this case takes the form of a renewed sense of vitality. By day, the Cosmetea pop-up store, where products are displayed in niches in the tunnel, is a friendly space where mirrors convey a child-like sense of wonder; when night falls the scenario changes, and the lighting transforms it into an urban lighthouse.
This spatial experiment based on cutting-edge experiential concepts deepens the brand’s impression on consumers; but the best thing about the project is the way a commercial goal can lead to a benefit for its urban surroundings, helping passers-by reconsider their relationship with the city and with nature, in a project that helps maintain the neighbourhood’s lively spirit.
Christiane Bürklein
Project: Nax Architects
Design Team: Lina Chan, Yiting Ma, Jo Jiao
Location: Shanghai, China
Year: 2019
Photographer: Raitt Liu