US studio Aranda\Lasch has created an interior facade for a Dior store outside of Doha with towering, curvaceous fins backlit by glowing translucent panels.
Located in the Place Vendôme mall in Lusail, Qatar, the Dior Femme facade stands 72 feet tall (22 metres tall) and contains a main entrance flanked by window displays.
Aranda\Lasch designed the rippling facade as a homage to the textile construction used throughout the fashion brand's garments.
"Inspired by how the brand's designers, starting with Monsieur Dior, use pleating to turn something soft into something geometric, we strove to transform the softness, movement, and luminous qualities of fabric into architectural materials," said the studio.
"Like the pleats in a Dior dress swaying with the movement of the body, the facade tries to capture a fleeting moment with an architecture of unexpected lightness."
It consists of a series of rippling white fins fused onto a translucent backlit surface that is framed by a mezzanine and columns of stone.
The fins were made from a "thermoformed solid surface" and were varied in oscillation and depth to create a dynamic, changeable texture.
Working with solid surface contractor Rosskopf + Partner, the team let the physical constraints of the material guide the creation of the curves.
"The facade appears like drawn sheer curtains from the side letting only subtle figures of light and shadow peer through, but open up and allows full view of the storefront, mezzanine and entrances from the front," said the studio.
"The effects on the light, the movement and the texture all lead to an architectural pleat in motion."
Each fin was etched with a grooved pattern to further diffuse light and soften its materiality.
The same solid-surface material and glass were used to create the translucent panels on which the fins were placed.
Aranda\Lasch worked with lighting designer Molly McKnight and lighting manufacturers Coolegde to design an LED lighting system for the background that produces a solid, white light.
"Dior demanded nothing but uniformity of light," said the team.
The pieces were fabricated in Germany before being shipped to Qatar where Aranda\Lasch assembled the piece in collaboration with facade consultant Front and facade contractor Seele.
"In the end, the installation is the largest most complex solid surface application worldwide," said the team.
Dior Femme – Place Vendôme has been shortlisted in the architectural lighting design category of Dezeen Awards 2023.
Aranda\Lasch previously created marble displays for a Valextra store in Miami and oversized architectural elements for a Kaws exhibition in Shanghai.
The photography is by Gerry O’Leary.
Project credits:
Design: Aranda\Lasch
Facade consultant: Front
Lighting designer: Molly McKnight
Executive architect: G4
Solid surface manufacturer: Rosskopf + Partner AG
Facade contractor: Seele Inc.