The project’s exterior building is a very narrow two level retail façade, typical to the historical Madison Avenue store typology, needed to contain the building entry, the store entry and hopefully have remaining space for a window display. To resolve this dilemma CARBONDALE ingeniously increased the overall width by partially folding the facade inward to receive the two required doors and maximizing the display window’s presence. The “folding” device inspired by the famous Longchamp “Sac Pliage” (folding bags) was also the conceptual basis for the interior store design. To relieve the narrow spatial compression, the walls are lined with a succession of folding planes exquisitely constructed in a variety of materials and textures such as embossed leathers, printed lacquers, back-etched glass, anigrey wood and selected textiles each corresponding to a particular product display type. After customizing the store’s design to convey the architectural character of Manhattan it was also important to contextualize Longchamp as a Parisian brand. The interior design pays homage to the Eiffel Tower by recreating the movement up through Eiffel Tower in the elevator’s interior design and to the “bouquinistes” collapsible bookstalls along the river Seine with specially designed guardrail furniture display case.
