Canal St Selected Store in Shanghai by Sò Studio.

The electric energy of Downtown New York City has been distilled into the old walls of So Studio’s Canal St Selected Store in Shanghai. Designers speak romantically about the complexity of life in New York. A place where voices from the past Industrial Age intertwine with cutting edge fashion, art, and pop culture. Shanghai stands as a young and energetic international city on the rise, its new modern face built upon a foundation of traditional Chinese culture. This interesting relationship between the past and the present found within the culture of both places is what designers endeavoured to embed within the concept for this store.

The 300 square meter retail space unfolds within a historical building attached to the city’s former French Concession. So Studio moved through a process of demolishing and removal to unveil the bones of the building. Through this destructive process, a melange of structures was exposed. Timber floorboards, red and grey brick walls, strengthening steel beams and concrete structure, all reflective of the long narrative existing in this building. “An interior designer enjoys the surprises brought on by accident,” said the design team, outlining that the process of unveiling unforeseen gems is “the fascinating part of the design process”.

The long and deep space is divided into two parts, its horizontal language capturing the atmosphere of a New York City subway carriage. Grille decorations reminiscent of a manhole cover, neon lights, exposed bricks and steel structure bring the rough, industrial quality of the subway directly into the store. The fitting room is no longer a shielded space behind a curtain. It has been transformed and is now a part of a long length of moving machinery, transporting those who sit between its deep green walls to another place entirely.

Tube lighting, the usual choice for a retail space has been avoided. In its place, designers have used a collection of panel lights, light films, corrugated boards, and other illuminations to create a softer and more uniform scheme. Multiple materials have been incorporated into the design, with a specific emphasis on layered textures. So Studio designers explain that they selected materials that overlap and recombine, to “create a subtle and carefully curated atmosphere that avoids distracting attention from individual products”.

Related: PEU à PEU Sports Store in Hangzhou, China by Sò Studio.

[Images courtesy of Sò Studio. Photography by Yuhao Ding & Elbe.]