New York architecture firm Snarkitecture has been the mastermind behind some of the most creative retail spaces and installations of the past 10 years. Since the firm’s founding, partners Alex Mustonen, Daniel Arsham, and Benjamin Porto are pushing back on the status quo and putting art with a capital A back in design. Porto spoke of the firm’s role as the perfect amalgamation of artist and architect, and how they continue to push retail out of its comfort zone.
Redefining retail with Kith
Retail is like theater because it’s all about moments that can’t be replicated, Porto explains. After developing a relationship with Kith founder Ronnie Fieg, the firm sought to do something a bit different for the Brooklyn store. They looked to Fieg’s favorite shoe, the Nike Air Jordan IIs, and constructed an installation comprising 700 replica pairs that suspends from the ceiling. At the brand’s women’s store on Bleecker Street in Manhattan, a marble dumbwaiter delivers shoes to patrons. “There’s this performative moment in the store; people come just to watch that happen.”
Layered minimalism
Snarkitecture’s minimal aesthetic allows for daring design decisions. “In our projects, we’re reducing the palette. There is a lot of white, gray, and black, but [we do that] to highlight the product itself.” For luxury label Valextra’s Milan flagship, the stark white space is anything but simple. Billowing fabric makes up the ceiling and imbues the space with a textured, fluid design, while light is diffused through the translucent fabric for an ethereal quality. “We’re not there to make it loud,” he says. “The product is the show.”
Pursuing interactive experiences
Immersive isn’t just a buzzword to Snarkitecture. Take the Loop installation for the Seoul location of fashion brand COS. Porto’s team created a giant version of a marble run that led to a pool of marbles in an adjoining room. “The experience of seeing it is the payoff,” he says. “Interactivity is important because people are there to engage. We want you to stay and look at something that you think is familiar, but that we’ve twisted to become a more interesting, unexpected experience.”
