Seoul Louis Vuitton Maison | Manuelle Gautrand Architecture
Project Description from Manuelle Gautrand Architecture:
The sculpture is enveloped by a sumptuous glass wrapping, covered with Vuitton’s drawings: The glass wrapping has a cube shape, except a small extended part on the top, which emerges to cover the café’s terrace. The glass is linked to the French tradition of the crystal manufacture, like Baccarat, Cristalleries de Saint-Louis, etc.
Facades are like glass works: The glass panels are joined together with a metallic structural lattice, which is regularly distributed all over the building. Each panel has a pattern, which reflects the Vuitton’s universe. The pattern is made with a succession of bumps and hollows, made with the curved glass, which designs the different Vuitton’s monograms in a three dimensional way.
Courtesy of Manuelle Gautrand Architecture
Each level is organized with 4 luggages, which are connected together to create four rooms of the ‘maison’. Each one is approximately 80 sqm, and is connected to the other with one or two generous openings. Each level is assembled with the other in a rotating way: The result is a beautiful sculpture, at the same time regular and expressive. The giant luggage stacking creates both intimate spaces and interior terraces, which will be covered and protected by the glass envelope.
We have studied the promenades like we could have done for a museum: We wanted to emphasize several ways of travelling in the Maison: regular or irregular, speedy or slowly…The guests can experience the stairs, the satellite room, or the exterior glass-lift, that goes directly from the entrance to the café on the top of the Maison.
The rooms are symbolically like huge luggages, in which the guests enter to live an experience: we have some memories about the wonderful story of “Alice in Wonderland”, where scales are mixed and sometimes Alice has the feeling to be very small in a huge place: the guest could have this feeling, to be like miniatures and experience something in a giant luggage…
Courtesy of Manuelle Gautrand Architecture
Project info :
Project Name: Louis Vuitton Maison, Seoul
Architect: Manuelle Gautrand Architecture
Client: Louis Vuitton Malletier
Year: 2011 (competition entry)
Location: Seoul, South Korea
Program: Retail space, café, exhibition space
Surface Area: 4000 m²
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