MATERIAL CONTRADICTIONS
BOFFO Building Fashion, NYC 2011
For: Patrik Ervell
Design Team: MAS + Jane Chua
Our design concept for the Patrik Ervell retail experience manifests itself towards his innovations in material -
reappropriations of known materials and methods reapplied to his minimal and elegant menswear designs. With
the temporal aspect of the installation, we chose a theme of lightness to transform the space.
As Patrik Ervell takes new views into materials, we also took a look at a typical architectural form, but re-
considered to be light, reactive. The box, a shape so common and ordinary, normally a stable, grounded shape of
four walls - when thought of temporally, designed not with hard walls but rather with sheathings of fluttering
mylar on the exterior, lifted off the ground plane, suspended from the top - begins to dissolve its hard lines. The
ground plane goes beyond the boundaries of the box - with an layer of foam pellets - becomes light, activated
and continuously altered by movement, like snow. It’s a zero gravity situation.
The mylar box constrains the customer and fashion within boundaries that are opaque and reflective on the
outside, presenting a parasitical environment that simultaneously includes, yet excludes the surrounding space.
Within, the menswear will be hanging focused in a clear line. The program therefore prioritizes the view and the
overall retail experience.
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PROCESS
