Located South of Kansas City, Park Place has become one of the favorite hangouts for young professionals. This new development emphasizes ease of pedestrian traffic, making it one of the hottest locations for retail, restaurant, entertainment and hotel. This retail art gallery is located at the prime corner of the development with full view storefront, and the northern natural daylight makes it most ideal for a gallery space.
With an approximately 900 SF. floor plate, over 400 pieces of art for display, and a less than generous budget, this gallery takes on a great challenge for visitors not to feel overwhelmed and clustered. Since painted drywall is the only finish material of choice; form, shade and shadow become the primary elements of focus in the design. The concept of the design is combining all the artworks into an installation as a whole. To achieve that, voids are subtracted strategically from the walls in which the artworks are placed. Three of the display walls are stitched into a ribbon-like element, peeling away from the back wall of the gallery and connects to the reception area near the entrance. The continuous plane eliminates abrupt shadow lines and creates a panoramic illusion of a much wider space. The nodes in this wall display artworks while hiding them for discovery as one moves alongside. Visitors can see into the staircase through some display nodes; yet enough privacy is maintained for the owner to proceed to the loft office.
The dynamic of the design captures one’s attention while the simplicity creates a perfect backdrop for the artworks to sparkle like jewels on a necklace, intertwining throughout the space.