Store Design/Redesign Finalist: The Store at The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD)
Jane Kitchen -- Gifts and Dec, 8/1/2009 12:00:00 AM
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When The Museum of Arts and Design moved to its new location on Columbus Circle in 2008, the Store at MAD got a whole new look as well. Both the Museum and the Store were designed to mix with the social and cultural fabric of New York City's revived Columbus Circle area.
Because of the location, the Store serves a number of purposes: museum visitors might enter the Store at the end of their visit, but people who may not be visiting the museum see it as a stand-alone retail space. It is also a great way of introducing artists to the city, since much of the merchandise is curated.
"It's somewhere between a gallery and gift shop and store," said Ken Nisch, chairman of JGA, the design firm that undertook the project.
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The 1,350-sq.-ft. store provides a mix of well-designed craft and design objects, ranging from serious to whimsical. "Trying to cover all that diversity within one space was quite a challenge," said Nisch.
The Store has a very important jewelry business, which ranges from the very affordable to $10,000 novelty art pieces, and Nisch strove to create a look and feel appropriate for the collector, but not so curated as to put off the every day buyer.
The space is wrapped on three sides by the building's new glass façade, and iconic "lollipop" columns exposed from the building's structural legacy provided pattern and mass to the space. The basic palette is solid and translucent whites and clear glass accented with neutral metals.
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The glass walls presented a challenge: if left entirely open, it would be distracting, and not provide an appropriate background for the merchandise. A 40-ft. long, organically curved translucent glass showcase provided the solution. Combined with creative lighting, it shows a hint of the colorful glass and art items from the street, particularly in the evening.
"It was a solution that effectively allowed people to have a view and still be provided an appropriate background," said Nisch.
And best of all, the curved glass installation is not only an innovative display space, but the focal element of the shop and an art object in its own right.
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Detroit Institute of Art Museum Gift Shop
Aug 1, 2008 -
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Jun 1, 2009
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