CARBONDALE is an internationally acclaimed Architecture office established in Paris France by the American Architect, Eric Carlson. CARBONDALE is renowned for their exceptional designs within the luxury realm realized throughout Europe, Asia and America. Prominent works included the Louis Vuitton buildings in Roppongi, Tokyo and the prominent Champs Elysées “LV Maison” in Paris, the 360° watch museum in Switzerland, the corporate headquarters for both Tag Heuer in Switzerland and Escada in Germany as well as numerous private residences. ERIC CARLSON, born in Ann Arbor Michigan in 1963, established his Architecture office CARBONDALE Paris in 2004 after previously co-founding and directing the Louis Vuitton Architecture Department in 1997. PIERRE TORTRAT was born in Paris France 1960. Previously Pierre practiced in London, New York and Hong Kong on a vast array of building types before returning to join the office of CARBONDALE as Associate Partner in 2006.

ARCHITECTURAL HONORS and distinctions include the Award for “The most Beautiful Construction in Metal in 2006” for the Atrium of the Louis Vuitton Champs Elysées Building. Additionally the Seoul LV Building on the prestigious Cheongdam-Dong fashion street received the Outstanding Design Award from the Seoul Metropolitan Government in South Korea.  Exhibitions and recent works include “logique / Visuelle” in Tokyo and “Inclusive” at the Aedes Gallery in Berlin and the Milk Gallery in New York.

EXHIBITIONS of recent works include “Logique / Visuelle” in Tokyo and “Inclusive” at the Aedes Gallery in Berlin and Milk Gallery in New York. Eric has also participated as lecturer and guest critic at Harvard University in Cambridge, the University of California at Berkeley, Tulane University in New Orleans and the Architecture Association in London.

Desert Delight

This project aims to participate as one of a series of remarkable and symbolic monuments such as the Presidential Palace, the Mosque, the Marina, that line the coast.

This particularly unique design contributes in reaffirming the new identity envisioned for this distinctive area that in turn, will represent the Emirates to the Gulf Region and to the World.

Our first intension responds to the demands of the overall urban context. The conception of an urban Plaza as a new an exclusive meeting place for the visitors and inhabitants, establishes the emblematic centre for Breakwater in Abu Dhabi.

When passing through the urban plaza, an oasis of roses and palm trees accompany pedestrians towards the monumental building entrance. This area also serves as a forecourt to the boutiques, and zones for exhibition and events, encompassed within comfortable air-conditioned spaces composed of transparent glass walls. This transparency reinforces the sense of complete openness of the entire plaza level and with visual connections in all directions: a constant sense of orientation is achieved.

By looking upward, the sky is rediscovered through the foliage from a forest of palm trees positioned within the central interior garden. 25meter high curved reflective glass walls distort the limits multiply the greenery within a large ovular space while concurrently allowing for garden views from the interior apartments, offices and lobbies.

On the roof terrace a new experiences awaits. From the many roof top functions the sculpted forms of the building’s roof-scape echoes the topography of desert dunes accompanying the distant views towards the city, the Corniche and the sea. The undulating roof surface is also expressed internally. Curved forms spatially enrich and individually distinguish the living areas in the apartment levels.

Like nomadic encampments extraordinary roof top volumes compose an artificial landscape:
The cantilevered swimming pool reaches towards the ocean;
The panoramic restaurant, topped by a prominent golden dome, becomes one of the major icons of Abu-Dhabi;
The Health Center is carved into the dunes; while lateral openings offer specific views on the landscape, its precious cupolas affirm the heritage of Hammam tradition and create this particular atmosphere of damped light.

As a night in the desert, everything stops in the beauty of all that is eternal: in searching the stars for direction, in watching the sea.

ESCADA HEADQUARTERS, Munich - October 2008

Designed by Eric Carlson of CARBONDALE Architecture, Paris

The new headquarters building for the fashion brand ESCADA will receive each season hundreds of visitors from all over the world over to unveil their latest collection.  ESCADA commissioned the Parisian studio CARBONDALE to design the architectural “public face” including the entry façade, entry court, interior courtyard, lobby and furniture totaling 2,000 m2.

The 3 main spaces, the entry court, lobby and interior courtyard spaces are visually aligned with transparent facades to form an immense 75meter long runway that flows through the center of the building. The ground plane of each of the 3 areas is uniquely inscribed with succession of linear bands serving to unify and give rhythm to the formal entry procession. At the entry court these stripes are composed of two textures of concrete for the walkway and 4 species of flowering plants. Each plant species takes turns blossoming in correspondence with each of the 4 climatic & fashion seasons. The 4 different flowering colors, red, white, pink and violet are the first device to transform the visitor’s experience.  At the interior courtyard the stripe composition alternates between bands of grass and concrete paving. The combination of mineral and vegetal materials practically allows for punctual usage without damage, yet visually when perceived perpendicularly from the lobby the courtyard appears completely green. Inside the lobby the stripes are manifested in the flooring through varying sized bands of polished concrete and polished aluminum and in the ceiling with irregularly positioned full-length lighting gorges.

The open 600m2 lobby interior is interspersed with 5 boxes like objects extending from floor-to-ceiling varying in size, tone and function. The first “box” is the entry vestibule, lined with a white lacquer paravent, suggestive of folding screens used for changing clothes. The large central “box” contains the reception and the small 2-level box contains the public elevator. Two additional “inverted boxes” are recessed wall alcoves which signal the entries into the showroom and restaurant spaces.

Each of these 5 box elements along with 2 central columns are wrapped in an extraordinary and inventive surface composed of vertical blades of polished, linished and brushed stainless steel mounted in an irregular zig-zag pattern. Inspired by the pattern made by dressmaking scissors, this unique triangular facetted profile is also sculpted into the custom wool carpet and leather furniture. Rather than simply applying color to distinguish the different “boxes” CARBONDALE expresses the material by tinted the stainless steel in silver, light-gold, gun metal blue, and bronze.

Notorious for burring the limits between architecture and furniture design, CARBONDALE created the seating area in the proportions of a super-stretch limousine wrapped in matt black leather. The 12meter long seating-table element is composed of an enormous floating slab enveloped in angular undulating leather from which three seating areas are carved out and capped in a continuous serpentine backrest.

To further animate the pure geometric lobby a 4.5meter high vertical video is positioned next to the showroom alcove reflecting and fragmenting the larger-than-life runway models. The giant screen is composed of 8 vertically mounted frameless plasma screens synchronized to display a single seamless moving image.

The robust linear of architectural surfaces create an ephemeral composition of textures and reflections that render the Escada headquarters both modern and luxurious conveying the essence of the brand.

INTERVIEW WITH ERIC CARLSON
ARCHITECT

Eric Carlson was born in AnnArbor, Michigan in 1963 and graduated from Kansas State University School of Architecture in 1986.  He worked with the offices of a number of leading architects, including Mark Mack, Oscar Tusquets and Rem Koolhaas, before co-founding the Louis Vuitton Architecture Department in 1997, playing a key role in shaping the company’s innovative approach to retail architecture. In 2004, he established his own architecture studio, Carbondale, in Paris.

Projects recently executed by Eric Carlson include the Louis Vuitton Roppongi and Omotesando stores in Tokyo, the Louis Vuitton building in Seoul, for which he received a Seoul Metropolitan Government Architecture award, the Celux club in Tokyo, and the Céline flagship on avenue Montaigne, Paris. Recent exhibitions include “Logique / Visuelle” in Tokyo and “Inclusive” at the Aedes Gallery in Berlin and the Milk Gallery in New York. Eric Carlson has participated as a lecturer and guest critic at the University of Harvard, the University of California at Berkeley, and the Architecture Association in London.

How did the Champs-Elysées store promenade concept originate?

Our brief was to increase the size of the existing store to 1,800-sq-m over four levels. However, as any retailer will tell you, the problem with stores over two levels is getting people to go upstairs.  We therefore had the idea of creating a four-level store on one floor. To do this, we designed a circulation system which eliminated the classic notion of floor levels and replaced it with a succession of terraces in a spiral pattern. It is a bit like an inverted Guggenheim. In the Guggenheim, you walk up the ramps, and the art is on the outer walls, while the interior space is empty. In this building, you walk gently down around the perimeter, and the product is on the inside. Basically, the concept is an innovative use of space to promote ease of circulation. It allows people to take a promenade through the store, engaging with the products in a leisurely manner and viewing the full range of products, not just the leather goods.
Historically, the Champs-Elysées has been a promenade. Even today, anybody who comes to Paris wants to walk on the Champs-Elysées. Our aim was to accentuate that by making the promenade part of the experience of the store. The store is thus perfectly integrated into its environment. For an architect, that is an extremely important consideration – it is not just about what a building looks like, but why it is there.

What were the challenges posed by the building’s original 1930s façade?

The façade is listed, so there was obviously no question of us making any changes. However, when you look at the building, you notice a series of very large glazed areas that step up the façade. We therefore used the Monogram metallic skin, which has become a signature element of Louis Vuitton store architecture worldwide, to line the façade behind the glass. As a result, the exterior of the building is both unified and clearly identified as a Louis Vuitton store. I regard that as a very positive architectural solution.
Ever since the Nagoya store project back in 1999, we have developed the idea of the metallic skin as a kind of architectural canvas, which wraps buildings in the same way as Louis Vuitton uses canvas to cover trunks and bags. The Champs-Elysées store represents the latest innovation of the skin, which not only lines the façade, but also filters the light coming into the store, so the interior is suffused with a very soft natural light. Inside the store, too, the skin is used both as an orienting device to guide you around, and as a space-defining element, so at times you actually have to pass through the skin to reach a special place, such as the fine jewellery department. When that happens, the skin changes, and is inlaid with precious materials – porcelain, leather, wenge, coloured glass – that reference Vuitton’s tradition of craftsmanship.

How would you like people to feel when they leave the store?

When I work on a project such as this, I often think about what people will take away with them. What do you remember from your trip to Paris? What do you remember from your trip to anywhere? And I think that what you remember are exceptional things, things that are different. That doesn’t mean they have to be flashy – they can be simple and pure. Basically, I’m trying to create things that people can take away with them, like a kind of optical travel diary. If people leave the store and say, “Wow, that was amazing!”, then that for me will be success.

CARBONDALE – Interior Design, LV Midland Square, Nagoya

The design of the Louis Vuitton, Midland Square store in Nagoya Japan is result of the collaboration of two Architects:  Nagaishi Takayoshi for the façade and Eric Carlson of CARBONDALE Architects for the 600m2 interior. The conceptual approach for Eric Carlson was to unify the expression of the interior with that of the exterior facade to assure a singular architecture and LV brand image.

Because the façade appears as a precious “gift-wrapping” enveloping the building outside, the first idea is to create inside the store a special architectural “gift” in the form of a distinctive sculpture that visitors discover upon entering. This is achieved by demolishing the floors slabs to express the 11meter high volume, then suspending a cylindrical mezzanine in the center of the void. The mezzanine itself is composed of six thousand extruded aluminum flowers capped in polished brass and stainless steel that appear to rain down from a luminous floating cloud. The interior of the cloud is lined in a warm anigrey wood and contains the largest display area of leathergoods, textiles and sunglasses.

The second idea is the transformation of the pragmatic stairs for vertical circulations into a travel experience. Inspired by the twisting metal flat bars which compose the façade, Eric superimposes two large spiral stairs, that twist around each other in a unique DOUBLE HELIX geometry. The stairs magically never meet and are reminiscent of an M.C. Escher drawing. Together the intertwining stairs look like a monument DNA molecule as they penetrate the “cloud mezzanine”, connecting the 3 retail levels and uniting the Louis Vuitton brand image.

LOUIS VUITTON – ROPPONGI, Open the 5th September, 2003

Unlike most projects, the Louis Vuitton Roppong store in Tokyo began by involving 3 Architect’s offices to create conceptual programmatic options which would serve to guide the ensuing design phase. Defining these programmatic foundations and the method of developing them proved indispensable in create an exceptional architectural design.

The brief chosen requested a store of an entirely new design (inside and out) that responds to the specific urban context of the mega-redevelopment Roppongi Hills and to the night-life for which the neighborhood is historically renown. The design solution should seriously reconsider the luxury retail architecture as a instrument to follow the changing seasonal rhythms of fashion instead of becoming a prison to fashion, changing every 6 to 8 years. The project is also to function as a laboratory for testing ideas concerning merchandising, store operations, and the “selling ceremony”. The store design is to creatively use the materials employed in other existing LV stores including anigrey and wenge woods, leather, plaster, limestone and teak flooring. Finally the store should successfully function commercially.

In order to achieve the 2 years worth of design and construction in 12 months, the Architects Aurelio Clement, Jun Aoki and Eric Carlson coming from three different countries and cultures were engaged to design together in two time zones to insure a 24 hour evolution of ideas. The design work was not divided as one might expect, but rather all three office generated ideas on all aspects in order to attain a singularity in the final product.

Located in the center of the Roppongi Hills development, the Louis Vuitton store is seemingly compressed from above by a 40 story masonry clad housing tower and from the sides by 2 level limestone retail facades. Directly fronting onto a large urban plaza the LV Facade, in contrast to the surrounding opacity, is conceived as a giant (13m high x36m wide) pixelized screen composed of 30,000 glass tubes stacked in a honeycomb-like manner. The perceptual combination of focused and blurry creates a “mirage effect” which is the first of many layer of the dream-state that permeates through to the interior.

The irregular shaped store plan of 900m² extends over two levels. To unify this space an interior “skin” of interlocking polished and brushed stainless steel rings (100mm in diameter) wrap the central areas. Both the skin and the facade abstractly reproduce the circle, diamond and flower patterns found in the popular Louis Vuitton Monogram canvas. The honey-comb like skin also vaguely delimits the peripheral product areas which are metaphorically manifested as night-life functions such as bag-bars, shoe-salons and a luggage-lounge. The two central areas reinforce the dance floor reference as a pretext for an innovated product display where 70 mannequins combine with 70 sales people and the crowds of customers. To further animate these space, portions of the limestone floor and stair risers are micro-perforated every 8 mm by fiber optics moving image system.

There is a constant stream of architectural illusions that continually intensify the mystery and dream-like experience. The stair risers in mirror polished stainless steel perceptually dematerialize the steps and en-trance those climbing upwards. Another original feature is the MP3 jukebox where customers can download selected songs from DJ mix playing in the store that changes every 4 months.

The interlocking pattern of circles of the facade and skin are also present in the wall plaster, inlayed stone displays, stamped leather and wood marquetry walls. This pervasive texture creates both a Large scale to the spaces and a Small scale texture. The Medium scale found in other stores is virtually eliminated as there are no furniture like elements allowing the eye to focus on the products. This pattern also practically served as a kind of “architectural alphabet” aiding the different 3 designers to create a common language.

The LV Roppongi store is a custom designed store that responds uniquely to its specific conditions, free from the “concept store” approach that repeats itself globally. With this method which focuses on difference rather than sameness, the objective of evoking the brand images of Louis Vuitton never the less achieved.

PRESS RELEASE JUNE 2008
Tokyo – Aoyama, 2008
A Luxury Penthouse in the heart of Tokyo
The latest creation by the American Architect Eric Carlson, Founder of CARBONDALE, Paris

At first you may not recognize the name Eric Carlson, but it is certain that you know some of his more prestigious projects.  This American Architect, who has collaborated with some of the most well known Architects internationally, has also created some of the most sumptuous Louis Vuitton stores around the globe. Not the least of which are the exteriors and interiors for the LV Roppongi store in Tokyo and the celebrated “LV Maison” on the Champs-Elysées in Paris.

A new domain of experimentation for the copious imagination and skilled drawing hand of Eric Carlson: A luxurious penthouse apartment located in the heart of Tokyo’s chic Aoyama district. To shape this exceptional 2nd residence that floats on the skyline of the Japanese capital, the European concept of “a weekend house in the countryside” was created. Inspired by the forest analogy, CARBONDALE conceived a complete line of 24 pieces of furniture fabricated in massive wood components in the spirit of the Japanese woodworking tradition to achieve a singular language and spatial unity.

The realm of the urban forest

How to reconstitute the sanctuary of the forest within the urban framework of concrete and glass? This was the mission given to CARBONDALE by a wealthy Japanese timber industrialist. The response was an island of serenity perched between the earth and sky, in which the furnishings imbued with the harmony found under the forest canopy supported by a multiplicity of vertical tree trucks.

The only requirement was to utilize the wood from the client’s forests in New Zealand. This seemed a simple formality at first, considering CARBONDALE’s history of spectacular architectural accomplishments, but it turned out to be a significant challenge. The New Zealand Timber supplied turned out to be structurally weak and practically vulnerable because of its “softwood” characteristics. Given “carte blanche” the CARBONDALE team orchestrated by Eric Carlson and Pierre Tortrat set out to resolve the client’s demands with an innovative response, by exploring numerous techniques in collaboration with technical specialists and craftsman.

A pioneering technique contributing to the environment

In order to utilize the prescribed “softwood,” a variety of pin identified as “Radiata”, CARBONDALE explored and multitude of techniques to densify and strengthen the wood including chemical treatments, heat-hardening methods, and even nuclear magnetic resonance to modify the woods physical properties before discovering the ground-breaking process of “compression.”  Rendering the timber significantly more resistant to deformation and bending the compression method incredibly transforms the softwood which require only 30 years to reach maturity, into a “hardwood” which require around 90 year. 

Thanks to a shorter renewable life cycle, from a purely ecological perspective, this method possesses the potential to reduce the deforestation of vital woodlands, predominantly composed of hardwoods that serve to counter the effects of carbon emissions. This innovative debut by CARBONDALE is but a glimpse of the potential global applications that wood compression offers in the campaign for renewable resources.

Purity and unity merge towards an innovative design

The pure vertical lines are a common thread that are woven through each the 24 furniture pieces. The controlled sequence of vertical wood timbers pays homage to the archetypal forms found in the traditional Japanese wood architecture, yet adds contemporary variation of sculpted extremities to meet specific ergonomic needs.

The pinnacle of luxury, similar to “haute couture” specifically tailored to the morphology of and individual, the furniture is custom designed to optimize the comforts and pleasures unique to the client’s way of life. The personal details of the accomplished collector of art-deco vases and sake connoisseur inspired the furniture’s individual design. The conceptual detail and precision is pushed to an extreme, underlining the singularity of this very limited series.

A private tour

The tempo is set upon entering. Carved into the wall a seating nook is situated adjacent to the entry door for the customary act of taking off and putting on shoes.

And next, drinks; as the master of the house is a sake connoisseur, between the living room and kitchen a sake bar extrudes from the floor with individual enclosures for 3 bottles and 8 glasses. To avoid misplacing a glass of rare vintage sake, within each piece of furniture throughout the penthouse, a special place is dedicated to accommodate a glass.

While in the kitchen cooking, in order to experiment with new recipes, a transparent glass counter top looking onto a computer screen allows the chef to simultaneously monitor every ingredient and dosage.

On the spacious terrace are a barbecue and eating area with table and chairs. The table is fabricated of 512 pieces of wood cut flat on top and shaped underneath like the belly of a whale. The curved underside is determined by the necessary legroom for each diner, but also serves as a sculpture as it is readily visible from the interior when seated on the floor.

To relax after dinner; in the living room a chaise longue is positioned next to a window wall overlooking the terrace. The surface of this piece is a sculpted to the specific ergonomics of the client.

And finally to sleep; even the bed and headboard partake in the continuity of designed elements. The mattress seems to float on a virtual bed-of-nails accentuated by the light beams radiating onto the floor.

TAG Heuer 360° Museum – ARCHITECTURAL ALCHEMY

The “TAG Heuer 360” Is the first museum dedicated to the unique collection of precision time pieces in the 150 year history of the brand. This company, renown for “firsts” throughout their history, TAG Heuer locates this privileged project on the ground floor of the company’s headquarters in La Chaux-de-Fonds Switzerland. The Museum was conceived and realized by Eric Carlson and his Paris based Architecture studio CARBONDALE, in collaboration with dUCKS scéno specialist in scenography and museography and the in-house TAG Heuer team.

This remarkable design was inspired by the intriguing inaccessible space that resides between the watch face and the crystal cover, where the hands of time turn by an inexplicable force from within. This spatial layer, steeped in both mystery and science, is architecturally articulated by 3 major elements composed to define the singular 200 sq-meter Museum.

THE CRYSTAL
The first element, symbolizing the crystal that crowns a watch, is a monumental circular video screen suspended overhead and beveled to provide a clear view to the visitors below. This dramatic panoramic screen is composed of 12 high performance retro-projectors, synchronized into a single moving 360° centripetal image. The content of this circular film emphasizes the legends and ambassadors important in the evolution of the brand. The ultra-sound speakers directionally shower beam of sound, audible only to those positioned directly below, reinforcing the sensorial experience.

THE TIME LINE
The second element defines the periphery of the museum and acts as an Architectural Time Line. A 55meter long band constructed of brushed aluminum and inlayed with a flush glass ribbon circumscribes the four walls. Behind the eye-level glass ribbon a contiguous composition of 16 display cases, 8 video screens, 51 back-lit images and text incrementally mark the passage of time.  Starting from the entry, in a clockwise direction, key moments in the history of time-keeping are highlighted with numerous astonishing treasures chronicling the story of TAG Heuer up to the present.

THE WATCH FACE “LE CADRAN”
The third and foremost component of the exhibition space is analogous to Le Cadran or Watch Face. Instead of employing the typical design solution of distributing individual display cases throughout the space, CARBONDALE envisioned the innovative architectural approach. In a powerful gesture, a single seamless horizontal plane of polished black corian, like motor oil, fills the space to 1meter. An organically carved path navigates through the richly reflective surface to reveal the 9 horizontal circular displays as “sub-dials” to the watch face. The horizontal displays contain an extraordinary collection of over 300 watch artifacts based on the 9 collection « les thèmes les premières inventions, du gousset au poignet, les compteurs de bord, aéronautique, sport, motoracing, plongée, design, femmes ». In keeping with the Avant-Garde radition of TAG Heuer, each of the circular displays built of rose wood and brushed aluminum are hydraulically equipped to lift and lower the islands of watches in silent perfection. As a final touch, 50 large magnifying lenses of varying sizes resembling giant water drops on the body of a car are irregularly placed over the vast horizontal surface are. Each clear glass lens is strategically positioned above key time-pieces to enlarge the infinitesimal details renown in Swiss watch making.

The spatial and visual complexities of this custom tripartite design, combined with the great care given to detailing and construction of high-tech materials make the “TAG Heuer 360” museum uniquely luxurious. The multiple of dualities present in the essence of the brand; Precision & Beauty, Strength & Elegance, Innovation & Tradition and finally Mystery & Science, all are architecturally assembled and crystallized to evoke the fascinating alchemy of TAG Heuer.

CARBONDALE 12/07

TAG HEUER, London – November 2008

CHANGING THE FACE OF TIME - CARBONDALE unveils the new Flagship Store