Located in NYC's Soho, Tibi is the brainchild of Amy Smilovic, a fashion and textile designer known for her casual chic style (great destination to shop from silk jersey dresses to smooth leather jackets). For her debut in the retail business, Smilovic hired ARCHLAB, an experimental architectural and industrial design firm, run by architects Antonio Pio Saracino and Steve E Blatz, who converted a plain white box into a stimulating sculptural shop that opened in November 2006.
Inspired by some decorative prints emblematic of Smilovic's work, the Italian-north American duo designed two folded black and green hand-painted floral canopies: the front one floats above the floor, folds down along the side wall, incorporates the cash desk and swoops back up towards the ceiling creating an illusionary perspective sense of movement into the space. Together, both canopies divide the boutique into four shopping zones and convey a feeling of privacy to the over-scaled ceilings of the 2200 square feet box.
'We began this project by trying to translate the recognizable prints of Amy's collection into the architectural scale. The two floating folded canopies fragment and organize the boutique giving the space dimension and, simultaneously, invite shoppers from the street with a perspective arch. Once inside, customers realize that the superimposed art pattern on the two canopies is that of the fashion designer: so art in a sense becomes the bridge between fashion and architecture'.
INFORMATION
10012 New York
Tel: 1.212 226 5852
- Website
- http://www.tibi.com
