The existing store is situated in one of Mykonos Island’s most crowded and central alleys. Housed in the ground-level of a traditional Mykonos house, the store is divided into two spaces, a common feature of traditional Greek island architecture.
The existing store’s design was characterized as problematic due to a very specific point: materiality. The whole space was covered by an undifferentiated high-gloss white paint which covered everything from floor to ceiling. This unfortunate choice created a very ambiguous situation depriving the visitors of a true shopping experience as well as the products of a suitable background to help highlight their uniqueness.
The ambition of the design intervention was to create a strong identity for the store, thus transforming it to a Clothing Boutique.
The design is based on two basic decisions. First, the glossy paint is replaced by white plaster which evokes the notion of the traditional island house space. The plaster symbolizes the old in the terms of the existing and it defines the boundaries of the boutique.
Second, a new layer was created which served a double purpose:
a) create a luxurious and serene background to bring the products into the foreground
b) unify the store’s two spaces without compromising on the overall functionality of the space.
Thus, the idea of a marble layer on the existing wall, reaching the height of 2m, so as to serve as the new intervention background was born.
The marble wall layer becomes complete with the addition of a bronze railing spanning the whole inner circumference of the store, creating a sense of continuity and fluidity.
BRONZE RAILING AND GLASS
The railing serves as a clothes’ hanger as well as the upper frame for the creation of new glass showcases. Some of the showcases are placed at former “dead” corners (ex. the threshold between the store’s two spaces) and some others are strategically placed in front of the existing windows, creating a visual layer which offers both views into the boutique as well as valuable exhibition space.Small rectangular marble surfaces serve as podiums for the placing and exhibiting of the shoes, creating a sense of rhythm at the boutique’s circumference.
LIGHT
The roof of each of the two spaces were lit by linear pipes of fluorescent light placed to accentuate their longitudinal direction.
Led tape follows the upper end of the marble surface so as to provide the space with a unifying, serene and mystifying lighting atmosphere.
The shoe podiums seem to linger in the air due to the led tape tape placed right underneath them.
Led tape can also be found inside the railing providing the clothes with just the right amount of extra light
THE FLOOR
The floor of each of the boutique’s two spaces is replaced by a custom fishbone wooden floor featuring a marble line in the central focal point of the wooden planks. The marble line accentuates the spaces’ perspective and serves as an important infrastructure for the exhibition’s organization.
In the first space, where the entrance is situated, the marble line is upwardly “extruded” creating marble tables for the exhibition of featured products.
In the boutique’s second space, the marble line is perceived as the footprint of a central marble wall hovering gently above the floor.The wooden planks imply the movement towards the inner space while the central wall serves as the main movement regulator and doubles as a two-faced hanger.
