Multidisciplinary studio Curiosity has completed the flagship store of streetwear brand hipanda in omotesando, Tokyo, combining digital and analogue features. titled ghost house, the immersive retail interior brings together architectural elements with AR (augmented reality) and AE (augmented experience) technology in a sequence of spaces, inviting the visitor to look for the ‘host’ of the house, who is revealed through different interactive experiences, some digital and other analogue.
Curiosity has decked the hipanda store façade with the brand’s logo, which ‘jumps’ towards passersby with visual effects displayed through animations. Inside, the main room features a play of light in constant motion, while the gallery space introduces products in a constant movement through AR, continually changing the presentation of the displays to bringing attention to the collection. the room’s walls are half-clad in mirrors, blurring the perception between digital and virtual. the unique lighting creates a shadow-free interior like a digital image. combined with AR, the two parallel worlds fuse into a dazing experience, finished with a frozen wall of mini panda sculptures displayed in a fridge-like structure.
‘The world of digital offers limitless possibilities of information, but the real world embraces the senses of human being that create unique experience which can be appreciated by each individual on its way,’ notes the tokyo-based studio. ‘our challenge was to bring street fashion into new territories, breaking the boundaries beyond culture, age and gender into an experiential space, accessible and inspirational for all, which redefines our expectation of retail experience.’
