The new department store, which has become another of Uniqlo's "world flagship store", has opened at the Marronnier Gate Shopping Center, built in 1984 on the edge of the Ginza district. The store is not the largest in the world, this title belongs to a 12-storey building in the same Ginza, but it demonstrates a serious approach to architecture.
As conceived by Herzog & de Meuron, the shopping center, closed on the outside and completely impersonal on the inside, was "cleaned" to a concrete frame: it was emphasized by mirrored surfaces and openings in the ceilings, providing a visual play. The architects called this approach "subtraction design".
Concrete space "lattice" creates a great backdrop for bright clothes. The individuality of different zones is provided by materials: floors made of stone, concrete, wood and metal, ceilings made of colored and mirrored panels, facades made of glass and fiber-cement panels interspersed with glass balls.
Where openings are cut in the ceilings, their edges are left untreated; some of these holes are left open, some are occupied by wooden display cases or digital screens.
Outside three-dimensional frame grille
becomes an arcade at ground level, and the Uniqlo brand is represented by prominent bright cubes. Passers-by are lured in by mirrors that reflect the outside of the store's interiors.
