Priceless: The Fashionable Architecture of Black Friday

Few holidays epitomize consumerism, commodity, and questionable ethics like Black Friday. Observed around the world, including places like India, France, Mexico, and the United States, the day has become synonymous with shopping, discounts, and significant safety risks. Getting its name from Philadelphia, where heavy traffic was regularly experienced the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday has given rise to widespread controversy. Between increasing demands for crowd management, concerns for employee health, and an ever-looming Gray Thursday, questions regarding architecture and consumer experience remain. Though all spatial typologies can be commodified, retail architecture is especially susceptible to cookie-cutter, value-engineered design. While these projects seemingly inundate the built environment, thoughtful and original designs exist — holding especially true within the world of fashion.

Building off some of our previous articles exploring the intersection between architecture and fashion, including stories on Prada, consumer experience, and haute architecture, the following collection draws together different fashion retail stores from the Architizer database. Working to complement or embody specific brands and designers, these buildings stand out from their contexts and create dramatic interior environments. Crafted with meticulous detail, unique material assemblies, and careful attention to lighting, the projects establish novel relationships between product and surface. Balancing theatrics and subtlety, the designs show different approaches to fabrication, exterior envelopes, and circulation. So sit back and escape the Black Friday mayhem with designs that are anything but prêt-à-porter.

Installation Two: Volume and Void by Jordana Maisie Design Studio, Manhattan, New York, N.Y., United States

Created as a tension between the handcrafted and the machine-made, this flagship store marries digital technology and natural materials. Creating with carved volumes and precise voids, the project uses timber to direct sight-lines between the street and the store. Mirrors were used within the birch-ply installation to open up the space and play with depth perception.

Marc Jacobs Tokyo Building by Jaklitsch / Gardner Architects, Tokyo, Japan

The first freestanding Marc Jacobs building, this 2,800-square-foot store is located in Tokyo’s famous Aoyama shopping district. Pragmatically, the project includes storage space, large sales floors, and more intimate retail areas. The Japanese construction technique known as kosakubutsu was used to conceal rooftop equipment, while the building’s façade is divided into three zones that respond to interior and exterior conditions.

© Shigeru Ban Architects, Dean Maltz Architect

Camper House of Shoes by Shigeru Ban Architects and Dean Maltz Architect, New York, N.Y., United States

The Camper House of Shoes Flagship Store was designed as the renovation of an existing building with three stores into one retail space. Using Shigeru Ban’s signature paper tube constructions, the project features a triangular peak roof. Operating like an open market, the store was created to seamlessly connect to the streetscape and celebrate the Camper brand.

Oiselle Flagship Store by goCstudio, Seattle, Wash., United States

Primarily built for a close-knit community of dedicated athletes in Seattle, the Oiselle Flagship Store operates as both a seasonal retail space and a ‘clubhouse’ for Oiselle’s running community. Designed to house athlete signings, marathon watch parties, and function as a retail store, the project combines four unique design elements: the Hero Wall, the Haberdashery Desk, the Theatre Fly, and the Plinko Wall.

3.1 Phillip Lim Seoul Flagship by LEONG LEONG, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Clad in a gradient of pillow-like concrete tiles, this flagship store is located in Seoul, South Korea’s premier fashion district. The project’s interior uses tactile materials to intimately frame the store’s clothing, while the rooms are lined with mirrors that create an “inkblot” effect and play with spatial sequence.

MRQT Boutique by ROK Rippmann Oesterle Knauss, Stuttgart, Germany

The MRQT Boutique was designed with a fur-like wall made from 22,000 unique wooden sticks. Referencing the delicacy and flowing nature of textiles and cloth, the wall’s surface creates a background for the fashion items on display.

LJ Cross Retail Store by Taylor and Miller Architecture and Design, New York, N.Y., United States

Coated in materials, including Belgian oak and white Corian®, the LJ Cross Retail Store is made to feel like a display. The continuous ribbon of Corian flows throughout the space and hovers between the floor and ceiling — creating both a sculptural element and display space. Carvings were made in the walls by overlapping cruciform shapes, niches that hold the store’s various products.

Ports Shanghai by Yabu Pushelberg, Shanghai, China

Emerging as a large fashion brand, Ports began in Canada. Its Shanghai flagship store was designed as a destination as well as a place to showcase the transformation of the brand.

Givenchy Flagship Store by Piuarch, Seoul, South Korea

Seoul’s Givenchy boutique was made with an embossed metal sheet skin inspired by optical art and the processing techniques of fabrics. With programs spread across three floors, the building emphasizes natural materials throughout the interior including basalt stone and marble.

Miu Miu Aoyama by Herzog and de Meuron, Tokyo, Japan

Herzog and de Meuron’s design for Miu Miu is located in Tokyo’s Aoyama District. Reemphasizing the brand’s dedication to the Japanese market, the store was made with a delicate metallic façade to give the building an intimate quality. Soft, rounded copper surfaces were created throughout the interior to contrast the façade’s steel corners.

Author: Eric Baldwin

Based in New York City, Eric was trained in both architecture and communications. As Director of Communications at Sasaki, he has a background spanning media, academia, and practice. He's deeply committed to trying as many restaurants as possible in NYC.