clemens weisshaar was working closely with rem koolhaas' office for metropolitan architecture for the new york prada epicenter store ....................

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............. the designboom nomination ..............
..... for singular work of art, design, fashion .....

clemens weisshaar


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working closely with rem koolhaas' office for
metropolitan architecture and copenhagen-based
media designer reed kram,
clemens weisshaar have created a series of
new works that expand the intersection between
architecture, industrial design, media design,
and fashion.
in 1999 prada comissioned rem koolhaas and his
architecture firm OMA to design a few prada stores.
located at the corner of prince and broadway
in new york city, the first of these prada stores
will soon reach its full potential.
these stores were conceptualized as 'epicenters' :
areas for explosive freedom within the larger,
unified whole.
through the design of custom interactive
installations, interfaces, displays, interactive
dressing rooms, handheld devices, and sensing
devices, these collaborators have created
a public media experience on a grand scale.
clemens weisshaar.....
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db:
your briefing? your intention?

cw :
the starting point was more or less the concept
of OMA/AMO of having multiple media canvasses
throughout the store.
ubiquitous displays.
from there we went through a reserach phase with
a lot of models and mock ups - always actually working
as we only had limted time and had to integrate the
whole design - architectural integration-engineering -
production process.
(we started in may and had to deliver 50 units in
december ) structuring and overseeing the whole
process was almost as exciting as the design phase
itself and almost a project of it`s own.
the idea was to do something radically new,
different from all the notorious plasmascreen we see
in almost every retail space these days:
an object that is unobtrusive integrated and functional.
a device that can be used in a straightforward way,
placed casually wherever it might be needed.
by means of sophisticated technology the screens
are enabled to act as displays for interaction as well
as canvases for video content they exhibit when the
interactive functionaliy is not being utilized.
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db :
prada digital media concept ? digital interfaces?

cw :
the digital media concept for the Prada epicenter
stores takes a unified approach to physical and information
architecture.
in general we chose to mediate public interactions for the
epicenter stores through the staff.
our intention for the in-store interfaces was to empower
the sales people and to avoid public displays of technological
interaction over human interaction.
for technological devices,we instead focussed on hidden
interactions that lead to individual discoveries.
these techniques are visible in the interfaces, dressing rooms,
interactive atlas and other installations, as well as the website.
we introduced a custom, handheld staff device with a
wireless connection to the store database.
using the staff device, the salespeople can call up live
inventory information, search through the product catalog,
and give personalized service using a customer's history.
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db :
prada interactive dressing?

cw :
the dressing room drew our attention early on as the
one truly private space in the store.
it also has a somewhat unique situation in public architecture
in that people get undressed. the interfaces for the dressing
room could be intimate and allow for personal exploration.
a camera is placed in the dressing room recording the
movements of the occupant.
this image is displayed on the opposite wall of the dressing
room, delayed in time.
when one places an article of clothing in the closet,
detailed information about the piece including designer sketches
appear on a touch screen.
using the touch screen, the customer is able to browse for
related articles and search the current inventory.
kramdesign made the initial conceptual / functional prototype
for the dressing room as well as the dressing room touch
screen interface in collaboration with AMO and icon nicholson.
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db:
any similar work-experience in your past?

cw :
the only electronic appliances I worked on have
so far been the microwave oven study we did for whirlpool
when I was still working for konstantin grcic and and a
proposal for a subminiature digital camera.


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clemens weisshaar was born in 1977,
he is an industrial designer based in munich, germany.
after an apprenticeship as a metalworker and
studies at central saint martins, london,
he worked for industrial designer konstantin grcic.
in 2000 he founded his own office.
current projects include new media devices for the
LA prada store, a research project on electronic devices
in the domestic landscape (in association with reed kram),
lamps, furniture and products.


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see also the designboom archiv.
/ prada stores, offices, factories




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ubiquitous display, early model
media design reed kram
industrial design clemens weisshaar




tag holder, sensing device,
allowing interaction with the instore IT
media design reed kram
industrial design clemens weisshaar




ubiquitous display, 24"
first prototype for the hanging displays
media design reed kram
industrial design clemens weisshaar




ubiquitous display, visual early prototype
media design reed kram
industrial design clemens weisshaar




markus schaefer and rem koolhaas' of AMO
and red kram



eric chang, tim archimbault and
clemens weisshaar on site
during construction. eric and tim
have been the architects of record.