Friday, 27 June 2008 |
It is risky to try to express luxury for an 18-28-year-old, wealthy
male audience — and not turn them totally off. Rafael de Cardenas of
New York’s Architecture at Large took on this challenge with the rebuilding of Ubiq Philadelphia, the destination of choice for sneakerheads from far and wide.
As
sneakers and streetwear do not lend themselves all that well to
wine-colored velvet or chandeliers, de Cardenas approached the redesign
of the large store with a cold and bold, simplified black-and-white
palette. Hard, black-lacquered surfaces, op-inspired patterns, harsh
lighting and simplified displays mix with beautiful detailing and white
ceilings and floors.
Thrown
into the mix is a posh back room, where streetwear is displayed in a
traditional gentlemen’s tailor room complete with dark-wood panels,
antique furnishings, restored Victorian plasterwork and a magnificent,
restored mahogany fireplace. It is all a nice fusion of mansion and
showroom, inviting and cold, pared-down and rich. With his approach, de
Cardenas has managed to teeter in the wobbly middle-space between the
reassuring ‘you can tell this is expensive, can’t you?’ and the
nonchalant ‘I don’t really care.’
The
entire store is up about a meter from street level, so you can be
assured that you are seen, day or night, on display, shopping for your
latest pair of Clae, Stussy Deluxe, Vans Vault, Original Fake, UMBRO by
Kim Jones and many others. Apparently, rap artist Kanye West has
shopped there, so it should be good to go for the rest. By Tuija Seipell.
|
Ubiq Philadelphia 
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