The New Munich Store, Santiago de Chile
/If this new Munich store in Santiago de Chile looks familiar to you - you're not crazy - it's a near replica of the Munich store in Valencia. Some brands like to evolve their style and change with the times, others find a timeless look, and preserve it; but Munich, does a little bit of both! The shoe makers called upon Dear Design to re-create the same magic they did with the company's successful Valencia store. The architects explained that "the main criterion for this project was to build up a light and open space to exhibit Munich’s shoes." Dear's objective was to showcase the shoes in a area or stadium like setting, where the space is flooded with light and the shoes are hanging from a white metal structure.
The arena is shaped by the metal structure, a second skin that surrounds the existing container without touching it, as if it was flying or hanging from nowhere, and also acts as the shoes support.
The shoes are disposed inside the voids between the white organic tubes with no noticeable supports, as if they were also flying with the rest of the structure. The whiteness of the whole design makes the shoes appear as highlighted elements monopolising all the emphasis of the boutique. The shoes are then the main element on this scenario, in which visitors are the leading actors.
The structure’s fractal design is based on infinitely repeated Xs, the brand’s symbol, down to the last detail: the supports, the backstitching on the skin on the bench and the counter, and the system of catches – always performing different functions.
The simplicity of this project lies in saving materials – only sheets of glossy white lacquered iron for the perimeter structure, Corian for the interior lettering, a Barrisol stretched ceiling for lighting, white polyurethane resin with glossy varnished finish for the floor, and white skin and iron sheets for the furniture.
Photography: Felipe Mardones
