A Closer Look At RIBA’s Regent Street Windows

The RIBA Regent Street Windows Project matches up-and-coming architects with some of The Crown Estate’s most popular retailers, creating architectural installations in shop windows along and around London’s Regent Street. These unique and eye-catching displays demonstrate the innovation and creativity of architects whilst highlighting the participating fashion brands as champions of good design. This year the installations will be up for three weeks from 5-25 September 2016, coinciding with London Fashion Week and the London Design Festival. Something Curated takes a closer look at this year’s most interesting projects.

KIEHL’S WITH PIERCY & COMPANY X ELECTROLIGHT

Piercy&Company’s window for Kiehl’s has been awarded ‘Best Design’ at the RIBA Regent Street Windows launch. The installation draws on the roots of Kiehl’s as an old-world apothecary, harnessing the power of botanicals. Over a period of six weeks the porcelain and light installation was handmade from over 1000 individual parts and combines traditional craft and innovative techniques. The combination of natural and manufactured, traditional and digital processes, are common ground for both Piercy&Company and Kiehl’s. They have celebrated this by displaying not only the precious finished object but also the products and processes used in its construction. The project has been extended, and visitors will now be able to view the installation at the flagship store, 71 Regent Street, until the end of October.

LIBERTY WITH ARCHITECTURE SOCIAL CLUB

Architecture Social Club’s display focuses on the figure of Arthur Lasenby Liberty and casts him in the role of fashion’s liberator. He encounters a dissolute, fantastical and depraved couture-landscape that represents London’s pre-Liberty’s world; ‘Arthur’ is shown to herald a new promise of higher quality fashion for the city. The installation’s narrative involves the iconography of ‘Noah’s ark’; and plays on the naval history of the Grade II Tudor-revival building, constructed in 1924 using the timbers of two ships, the HMS Impregnable and HMS Hindustan.

MOLTON BROWN WITH KNOX BHAVAN & SUSIE MACMURRAY

Knox Bhavan and Susie MacMurray have sought to encapsulate the mood of Molton Brown’s ‘Rosa Absolute’ campaign by harnessing their common appreciation of materials, quality of product and precision of making. The installation consists of three identical ‘chandeliers’ made from packaging bottles, suspended with a deep red ribbon, above a bed of beautifully crafted metal roses. Powerful lights illuminate the installation and amplify the reflective quality of the materials. The rich coloured ribbon offers a feeling of weight, echoing the grand renaissance rooms which are alluded to in the campaign. The mood of the lighting alters depending on the time of day, giving sensuality to the piece. The window has won the Riba Window People’s Choice Award.

RIBA, 76 PORTLAND PLACE WITH CAN + NINA SHEN POBLETE

CAN + Nina Shen-Poblete’s ‘The Block Shop’ re-imagines the glazed street frontage of 76 Portland Place in a ghosted silhouette of the by-gone Georgian terrace. The ornate openings celebrate a lost street view but their un-ceremonious ‘blocking up’ reminds us of the impermanence of our city fabric and their layered stories. On closer inspection, the blocks reveal exquisitely ornamented surfaces. The humble breezeblock, once a ubiquitous building material has thus been framed, displayed and elevated as a high-end product.

UNIQLO WITH PROJECTS OFFICE

Projects Office’s ‘Flying Colours’ is a playful amalgamation of Uniqlo’s fall colours, the brand’s signature rainbow arrangements, and London’s humble pigeon. The display was designed to emphasise the variety of Uniqlo’s autumnal palette. The colourful birds create a link to the world beyond the window.  The design was a collaboration between Projects Office and Jack Berk, an art director working in film and TV comedy. Taking a narrative approach to developing the concept, the project applies the immediacy and craft of the film industry to bring it to life. The kinetic display alludes to wool-making processes and the raw materials used in garment making.

Curated by Tamara Akcay