Distinctive Packaging Inspires Zaha Hadid Architects’ Retail Design Concept 6th March 2019 | IN PROJECT OF THE WEEK | BY SBID

This week’s instalment of the #SBIDinspire interior design series features a bold and striking pavilion designed by Zaha Hadid Architects to mark the launch of a make-up collection by II Makiage. Informed by the label’s statement graphic identity, the pavilion’s structure reinterprets the distinctive motif that wraps the corner of all II Makiage’s packaging. Sequential folded black and white structural ribbons generate a powerful rhythm of contrasts along the length of the pavilion. Each ribbon is rotated to have a fractionally different relationship with those adjacent. The dynamism of this rotation engages perception and invites exploration within; creating a distinctly personal space, owned by each visitor on their path of investigation through the pavilion. Alternating gloss and matt surfaces are a further reference to II Makiage’s characteristic packaging, the structural ribbons interlace to describe a sheltered interior for visitors to experience the collection. Lighting installed below alternate structural ribbons and on the mirror surrounds ensures an accurate rendition of the many colours and tones within the collection.

Company: Zaha Hadid Architects

Project: II Makiage Pavilion

Project Location: New York, United States

Zaha Hadid Architects, Il Makiage Pavilion retail design project images for SBID interior design blog, Project of the Week

What was the client’s brief? 

II Makiage has positioned itself as a leading professional make-up brand, and the client’s key objective for the pavilion was to reflect this positioning. “The brand’s distinctive DNA celebrates intelligent, strong, confident women. We spent the last five years developing products that would live up to her high standards…” explains Oran Holtzman, the company’s co-founder and CEO.

The brand is offering customers a collection of powerful beauty tools, with high-end formulas, a variety of shades, and all with uncompromised quality. The aim of the pavilion design is to enhance the brand’s key ethos of luxury look and feel, to be one-of-a-kind, innovative, and to stand out among the existing competitors in the current global retail landscape.

Zaha Hadid Architects, Il Makiage Pavilion retail design project images for SBID interior design blog, Project of the Week

What inspired the interior design of the project? 

The pavilion’s structure reinterprets the motif and branding of II Makiage’s distinctive packaging. A sequence of folded, alternately lit and unlit, black and white structural ribbons generate a concatenation of light and dark, along the pavilion’s length. These ribbons are each rotated slightly against one another, to create fractionally differing relationships.

This dynamism engages the visitor’s perception, and invites exploration within, creating a distinctly personal journey. While open on both sides, the carapace-like structure also creates a private interior space that allows the visitor to engage with the product on a personal level. The structure’s black and white palette is intentionally neutral, to form a backdrop that allows the various product hues to shine.

Zaha Hadid Architects, Il Makiage Pavilion retail design project images for SBID interior design blog, Project of the Week

What was the toughest hurdle your team overcame during the project?

The key challenge was to find a structural solution and construction method that would satisfy ZHA’s aesthetic requirements, as well as meeting the client’s budget, while also providing the necessary flexibility for assembly and disassembly so that the pavilion can be transported from location to location.

Zaha Hadid Architects, Il Makiage Pavilion retail design project images for SBID interior design blog, Project of the Week

What was your team’s highlight of the project?

For us, the key achievement was the fabrication of the pavilion and its installation in NYC, followed by the very positive feedback from the client and its customers.

Zaha Hadid Architects, Il Makiage Pavilion retail design project images for SBID interior design blog, Project of the Week

Why did you enter the SBID International Design Awards?

We believe that this new retail space embodies an unconventional and unique architectural and technical solution. It enhances the luxury make-up brand’s identity, responding to the key objective of being ‘one-of-a kind’ while also making a clear statement as a strong, self-contained object.

Zaha Hadid Architects, Il Makiage Pavilion retail design project images for SBID interior design blog, Project of the Week

Questions answered by Kar-Hwa Ho Project Leader at Zaha Hadid Architects

If you missed last week’s Project of the Week featuring the elegance, sophistication and simplicity of a family residence in Ukraine, click here to see more.

We hope you feel inspired! Let us know what inspired you #SBIDinspire

Zaha Hadid | SBID International Design Awards 2018