[button link=”https://www.arredanegozi.it/2023/08/el-departamento-progetto-negozio-nude-project-a-valencia/” icon=”none” target=”” color=”a30b0b” textcolor=”ffffff”]TESTO ITALIANO[/button]
In a road lying adjacent to the Mercado de Colón in the heart of the city of Valencia, Nude Project is opening a new store designed by El Departamento.
Together with their first two stores in Madrid and Barcelona, also designed by the Valencian architecture studio, the three hubs represent the brand’s only three physical points of sale.
The magic of this ground-floor location enhances the grandeur of the surrounding urban design. Once a fishmonger’s shop spanning more than 100 sqm, today it retains some of the most unique features of the eclectic Valencian architecture from the early 19th century.
The backdrop for this project features wooden beams, tiles, high ceilings and stone walls, but the star of the show is a giant mosaic whale, a reminder of the life and work that inhabited this space all those years ago.
From start to finish, the design has prioritised the respect and appreciation that the existing building and heritage deserve, and employs the idea of an ‘invisible cloak’, which veils the entire perimeter with methacrylate panels but exposes its scars and the layers of materials and textures that form its skeleton. This backlit cladding enhances the site’s architectural legacy and alludes to the brand’s name, thereby echoing its philosophy where urban design, the natural world and improvisation converge
A space full of contrasts
The brand’s youthful and daring spirit is palpable in every corner of the building. “The idea of combining something very banal, almost vulgar, with something exquisite, took on a double meaning. Delicacy could be squandered on the mundane, or interpret the opposite and elevate the simple features by combining them with a delicatessen. Starting from this it was developed the ‘Kentucky with Champagne’ concept, whereby the pre-existing ruins represent the KFC of this mix, and the methacrylate that lines the walls and pays homage to its past would be the delicate Champagne“, say the architects Marina Martin and Alberto Eltini.
This concept is also linked to the streetwear aesthetic that inspires the Nude universe, and is one of the keys to its success; combining urban and street style with the world of high fashion. In other words, mixing comfortable garments such as sweatshirts and sweatpants with more elegant, designer pieces.
Drawing on this same idea, the raw exhibition space contrasts with the brown fur-lined fitting rooms and bespoke furniture pieces, whose organic shapes and refined finishes seek to sweeten the tone. Hi-tech lighting, stainless steel mirrors, lacquered steel displays, and a large box walled with mirrors that houses the storage area and staff lounge, bring an exquisite sense of harmony to the space.
Second-hand televisions have been added to the tills, giving this area a vintage feel and creating another reminder of the classic high-street shops that would have lined these old neighbourhoods. By contrast, the passageways feature flat screen televisions that display the brand’s social media content, thus breaking down the barrier between the physical and digital world and echoing another of Nude’s core values.
Location: Valencia
Area: 100 Sqm
Design: El Departamento
Team: Alberto Eltini, Marina Martin, Daniela Guzmán, Antonio Ibáñez
Photos courtesy: Jorge Peiró
