The Webster flagship store built in Los Angeles; project author - David Adjaye. This is the seventh branch of the network of the multi-brand fashion house, the opening is scheduled for February 6.
The new boutique is part of the refurbished eight-story Beverly Center shopping mall, located at the busy intersection of Beverly and São Vicente boulevards, but The Webster has a clear advantage over other stores in the mall - a separate entrance and its own parking. The place is, in a sense, a cult one: the premises that the store now occupies used to house the first bar in the United States of the legendary Hard Rock Cafe chain. And the shopping complex itself, built in 1982, was repeatedly mentioned in popular culture: it served as a decoration for the film “
Scenes in the Store”with Woody Allen, the prototype of one of the locations in the GTA game and the setting of one of the chapters of the novel“Less Than Zero”by Bret Easton Ellis.
The store is decorated exclusively in pink. On the one hand, deep pink is a reference to the neon signs of California and the work of Luis Barragan, on the other hand, it is the personal preference of David Adjaye. IN
In an interview with Surface magazine, the British architect revealed that he experimented a lot with colored concrete early in his career. Over the past five years, he has been trying to rethink this "youthful" experience and increasingly in his works turns to rich red and pink shades.
Now pink is at the height of fashion, but in the case of The Webster boutique, Adjaye had other tasks: the author of the project explains that he "wanted to do something tough and gentle at the same time," so that "would have [special] meaning" for Los Angeles … Note also that the Webster brand's logo flaunts a pink flamingo, which could play an important role in choosing a color dominant.
The volume of the store organically continues the "mother" building: it has the same massiveness, laconicism, curved lines, rough texture, however, against the background of the shopping center, the boutique stands out noticeably - precisely due to its bright pink hue.
The new The Webster is not an ordinary store where people come only to shop, but a public space. The role of the "points of attraction" is played by the fountain located at the entrance to the establishment, and the media screen hidden in the "seamy side" of the cantilever cylindrical ledge made of precast concrete slabs. It is planned to show videos commissioned by The Webster on the screen. In this case, the image, reflecting from the horizontal and vertical surfaces of the facade, will gently illuminate the entrance group. Shoppers and passers-by will be able to admire the fountain and video art while sitting on a monolithic bench that arches along the window. With the help of a panoramic window, which is also "hiding" under the overhanging console, the architect managed to achieve the unity of the external and internal space.
Free layout of the boutique (its area is about 1022 m2) is interrupted by monolithic concrete columns and teardrop-shaped podiums, which play the role of showcases here. The floor, walls, seats, in a word - everything are also made of concrete. Moreover, the closer to the ceiling, the rougher the surface texture. The upper part of the walls and the ceiling itself are covered with plaster, which imitates the texture of concrete. In the fitting rooms, half of the wall is papered with vintage 1950s wallpaper with a floral pattern.
