starch boutique by ghaith & jad suspends moving architectural elements
the designers challenge the typical boutique interior and create a dynamic installation of light and rods inside the beirut storefront.
starch boutique by ghaith & jad suspends moving architectural elements
photo © basel abi hanna
all images courtesy of ghaith & jad
in collaboration with solidere, rabih kayrouz and tala hajjar founded ‘starch‘, is a non-profit organization that helps launch emerging lebanese creatives. every year, the group debuts a series of collections where young architects, artists, and designers can display their work and receive recognition from their peers and the public. based on the foundation’s ever-changing identity, ghaith & jad was selected to manipulate the ‘starch boutique’, representing different entities that start to invade a platform of possibilities. these current settlers seek to live within the space and begin to break from a frozen existence into a multitude of choreographed chapters, keeping the space alive and never dormant.
video by christian moussa, courtesy of ghaith & jad
the approach features a spatial installation of 27 brass members that slide along each other and hook to 186 wall and ceiling-bound hooks. these components, on which the clothes are displayed, float over pedestals on a rough white floor, both made of casted plaster. with these contrasting elements of mass and outline comes a 1.1-meter spherical light source that moves along the back surface, held by two balancing concrete counterweights.
project descriptions are plastered on the walls
photo © basel abi hanna
the architects say that, ‘all these elements react within the limits of the store and become a family of inhabitants; a family that turns space into place, place into playground, and playground into starch. making starch this year not only a store, but also a spatial installation that communicates with this year’s designers, while creating a surreal atmosphere of a million identities.’
the color palette is a combination of brass and white
photo © basel abi hanna
the suspended components
photo © basel abi hanna
a table setting
photo © basel abi hanna
the construction also functions as clothes hangars
photo © basel abi hanna
view of the interior
photo © basel abi hanna
looking towards the moving light
photo © basel abi hanna
detail of the joints
photo © basel abi hanna
view from the exterior
photo © basel abi hanna
the different configurations
photo © basel abi hanna
plan
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