Frank Gehry has perched a stack of sweeping glass sails atop a cube of white stone for Louis Vuitton Maison Seoul, with interiors by architect Peter Marino.
The roof is a reference to the curved roofs found in traditional Korean architecture, and a nod to the billowing forms of Gehry’s Foundation Louis Vuitton in Paris.
Designed to “give an impression of flight”, these louvred glass panels help to filter light throughout the building. The roof forms zigzags up the Louis Vuitton Maison Seoul, creating a series of private terraces above.
“What struck me when I first visited Seoul nearly 25 years ago was the relationship between architecture and the natural landscape,” said Gehry.
“I still remember clearly the powerful impressions I had stepping up from the garden of Jongmyo Shrine.”
Set over five storeys, Louis Vuitton Maison Seoul’s interiors combine the luxury fashion house’s clothes and accessories with a permanent collection of art and archival objects and a temporary exhibition space.
A series of Alberto Giacometti sculptures from the Foundation Louis Vuitton Collection is currently on display.
Marino said he designed each floor as a “differing universe”, with a vast, twelve-metre high entrance hall that contrasts with more intimate lounge areas.
The more open spaces have been finished with a mixture of white walls and pale wood floors and shelving. Smaller private salons are finished in stone to give the feeling of being in carved-out niches.
Source: Dezeen
Pictures by Yong Joon Choi for Dezeen