Japanese design studio Nendo has installed screens based on wrought iron fences in the women's clothing section of Tokyo's Seibu department store so it resembles a European city park (+ slideshow).
Brands and product displays on Seibu's third floor change rapidly, so Nendo designed modifiable fixtures for the space that look like street furniture in parks.
"Our design took inspiration from the wrought iron fences surrounding the parks, squares and other green spaces in European cities," said the designers.
The decorative white screens are suspended from the ceiling, dividing the space and doubling as rails for hanging the garments.
These can be taken down and reinstalled in other areas of the store to change the layout.
Manequins are hung on wires attached to rails on the ceiling, so they can also be relocated.
A herringbone pattern of plastic tiles in shades of grey to represent paving spreads across the entire floor surface.
Wooden pedestals resembling planters display accessories on their illuminated tops.
Shoppers can rest on outdoor furniture such as low seating and park benches, some of which are used to present folded clothes.
In the changing rooms, artificial plants that match the colours of the walls crawl down from the lit gaps along the ceiling edges.
Photographs are by Masaya Yoshimura.
Here's some text from Nendo:
The multi brand and shared areas for the women's clothing floor on the third floor of the Seibu department store in Tokyo's Shibuya. The 'contemporary luxury' floor presents multiple brands together in a unified environment, but each brand needs to be gently distinguished from the others.
The brands' lineup and product arrangement change at a dizzying pace, so the fixtures needed to be easily modifiable.
Our design took inspiration from the wrought iron fences surrounding the parks, squares and other green spaces in European cities. We created screens based on these fences, and suspended them from the ceiling as hanger racks for the clothes. The screens are easy to remove and relocate, and have built-in lighting to illuminate the clothes. They come in seven different patterns, to give each brand a distinctive look.
We also created ceiling-suspended shelves, as well as low floor fixtures inspired by park benches and a bench reminiscent of a fountain's edge.
To overcome cost and thickness restrictions for the flooring, we cut ordinary plastic floor tiles into different shapes and created a variegated flooring pattern that recalls cobblestones.
The colourful changing room walls are finished with artificial ivy in different hues, and the changing rooms offer simulated outdoor light as well as indoor light, for checking clothes in a variety of environments.
These designs create a free, lighthearted environment, similar to the experience of strolling in a park.
