life-size lattice 3D-printed elephant pops out of antistatics’ retail store façade in china
along with the outstanding structure, undulating white ribbons are wrapped around the openings, inviting passers-by to an inspiring experience.
life-size steel lattice elephant marks ‘i do’ store in china
international studio antistatics architecture collaborated with artist yue minjun to complete a new ‘I DO’ retail store in china, defined by its impressive sculptural façade. standing as an eye-catching structure, a life-size steel lattice elephant —with his head popping out on the bustling street— marks the storefront of the building.
employing large-scale wax 3D printing and investment casting, the final design shapes a sparse yet organic framework inspired by cellular biology and the atomic structures of the diamond. along with the outstanding structure, undulating white ribbons are wrapped around the openings, inviting passers-by to an inspiring experience.
all images courtesy of dachou wang
wrapping in a fluid cave-like structure
the white ribbons on the façade, generate visual continuity to the carved-out interior, enveloping the guests in a smooth fluid cave-like environment. upon entering the store, the back part of the sculpture leads the gazes upwards. spanning nine meters in height, the structure penetrates the floor plate and emerges like a tree on the upper floor.
a twisting staircase entices the visitors to climb up, and observe in detail the intricate shape of the sculpture that features two of the artist’s signature works — two figures intimately crouching on each other’s shoulders act as gestures of love and joy. these silhouettes, not to mention ‘the peaceful elephant’, symbolically represent wisdom, strength, and unity at the junction point between architecture, art, and technology.
made of robotically milled formwork, the strips embrace the glazing allowing natural daylight to trickle in, and air circulation to run properly. the design team framed the glass displays in the interior with brass geologic formations, to emphasize the contrast with the smooth all-white walls. in fact, in some points, the screens are integrated into the walls, like emerging from the eroded spatial constructs. the furniture follows the same strategy employing geometric formations while using hand-crafted processes for their construction.
‘the façade, interiors and detailing of the spaces declare themselves to the world as a new potential for how we might come to understand not the segregation of thoughts and ideas, rather how cross-pollinated ideation and multi-disciplinary collaboration between each other can offer a way forward, celebrating our differences and sharing our common goals of love, happiness and inspiration,’
the detail and precision of the unprecedented sculpture pierces through the floor plate with yue min jun’s signature figures
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project info:
name: I DO artist store ‘the peaceful elephant’
architects: antistatics architecture
design principal: martin miller, mo zheng
collaborated artist: yue min jun
design team: yasser hafizs, theodorius e. d. santoso, christopher beckett, annie liu, demi chang, arthur yang
fabricator: hangzhou dikesheng culture and art co., ltd+ wenzhou zaomeng technology co., ltd
main constructor: yueben shanghai
GRG supplier: E-grow shanghai
client: I DO (hiersun group)
area: 250 sqm
location: wuhan, china
photography: dachou wang
designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.
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