Aesop Bibliotekstan

Stockholm, Sweden

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Aesop Bibliotekstan

Stockholm, Sweden

Firm

In Praise of Shadows Arkitektur AB

Type

Commercial › Retail Showroom

YEAR

2014

SIZE

0 sqft - 1000 sqft

BUDGET

$100K - 500K

Aesop Bibliotekstan is Aesop's first Swedish signature store and also the first store in the Nordic countries. For Aesop Bibliotekstan we have worked with three primary sources of reference, the philosophy of Jun'ichir_ Tanizaki and the films of Ingmar Bergman and Lars von Trier. The essay “In praise of Shadows by Tanizaki is a book of reference for Aesop as well as the book from where we borrowed the name of our office. In this essay Tanizaki praises the traditional Japanese architecture and aesthetic and brings forwards the qualities of materiality, patina and tactility.
The reference to Tanizaki guided us to a spatial thinking inspired by the traditional Japanese architecture where a spatial grid and module guides the space, the borders of the rooms and how they connect to the outside as well as the division of its surfaces. Within this grid, scale, mass and materiality have been our tools to create a space with the ambition to be comfortable, inviting and although the room is small, creating a rich tactile experience and a sequence of spaces.
Old wood and plaster shapes a store space divided in two, the open and the intimate. The floor as well as the walls and roof of the inner space are Heart Oak from the Danish producer Dinesen. With reused elm tree timber from Djurgården in Stockholm and Järna (taken down since infected by the Dutch elm disease) we have together with wood artist Lies Marie Hoffman shaped three functional pieces the point-of-sale counter, sink and complementary bench.
The contrast of the timber's controlled shape and uncontrolled structure is very important to us. Just as in the films of von Trier and Bergman, where the inner forces of the characters are suppressed and controlled by social conventions and/or relations to others, the drama lies in the contrast. These massive, simply hewn forms also provide textural contrast with smooth beige plaster wall, and timber floor, walls and ceiling. The plaster wall has a warm light beige colour. Interior details in copper and leather will age beautifully together with the elm and the oak and the patina of time and use will work the materials even closer to each other.