This Eternity Shop is an immersive retail store that offers customers a storytelling experience. The store sells photo frames that cherish precious memories which will last a lifetime. The geometry of the space takes on the perpendicular form of a typical frame, where each angle in the graphics, the furniture, the lighting, and the layout is purposefully 90 degrees. Just like frames on the wall, each space is graphically outlined three-dimensionally from the floor to the wall and to the ceiling, creating a boxed-in element that highlights the different functions. Customers first walk in to the exhibit inspired by the design of a museum art gallery, where they can observe the frames like it is art. Customers can then decide to purchase a pre-packaged frame or continue on the next experience, the interactive portion. This section offers digital kiosks where customers can upload a photo, test out different frames, and even print out their photos. The interactive aspect allows users to engage with the space and enjoy the beauty of the moment. Stay with the theme of exhibits, the design of this section is inspired by museums which are more science based and interactive. It implements a darker element that is contrasted by bright lighting, creating a more sci-fi feel. These two functions take customers on a journey that seeks to enhance the experience of shopping and evoke more excitement.
The Urban Ink Community Center, located in New York City, seeks to be a space that fosters authentic social interaction in the modern epidemic of social disconnection and loneliness. Through various programs, users are able to engage in activities that offer opportunities to strengthen connections with loved ones but also build meaningful relationships with new people. The design takes inspiration from New York’s urban infrastructure in architecture incorporating concepts of motion, suspension, and progression. Motion integrating the concept of the city’s transportation system that brings interconnectivity within. Suspension that plays with height volumes and a representation on rooted history of the Mohawk Skywalkers who built the city at high altitudes. And progression that reflects on New York’s ever-changing growth. The geometry used to develop key elements is extracted from patterns of various lines and angles which can be found on New York’s train maps. Each program category of learn, activate, connect, create, relax and restore is represented by the colors green, yellow, blue, red, and purple, the colors that codes different train lines. The same lines on the map are reinterpreted in this community center, found on the ground, to connect the spaces as a method of wayfinding while also enhancing the idea of interconnectivity. In doing so, the project transforms the language of the city’s connectivity into a space of human connection.
