Prada Boutique Aoyama

Herzog & de Meuron – Prada boutique Tokyo, Japan, 2000-2003

We decided to focus initially on the vertical volume containing the maximum gross area allowed, so that part of the plot area cannot be developed. This area will form a kind of square, comparable to the public spaces of a European city.

The shape of the building is fundamentally influenced by the angle of incidence of the local skyline. Depending on where the viewer is standing, the body of the building will resemble more of a crystal or an archaic building type with a gable roof. The ambivalent, ever-changing and oscillating character of the building's identity is accentuated by the sculptural effect of its glass surface structure. The rhomboid-shaped grid on the façade is clad on all sides with a combination of convex, concave or flat glass panels. These different geometries generate multifaceted reflections, which allow viewers, both inside and outside the building, to constantly see the almost cinematic images and perspectives of Prada products, the city and themselves.

But the grid on the facade is not simply an optical illusion; it is actively incorporated into the structural engineering and, in combination with the building's vertical cores, supports the ceilings. The horizontal tube stiffens the structure and also provides more private areas for changing rooms and check-out on the building's otherwise open, light-flooded floors.

The accessories with lamps and furniture for the presentation of Prada products and for visitors were newly designed specifically for this place. The materials are hyper-artificial, such as resin, silicon and fiberglass, or hyper-natural, such as leather, moss or porous wooden planks. Such contrasting materials prevent a fixed stylistic classification of the site, allowing traditional and radically contemporary aspects to appear as self-evident and equal components of today's global culture.
Herzog & de Meuron, 2003