The first floor of a glass-enclosed building, on a main street in the commercial area of Nagoya, harbors the retail store of the Swedish fashion brand Acne Studios. The commission from the new creative direction of the company asked, on one hand, to combine the company’s DNA with the local identity; and on the other, to explore the ‘high-tech vs. low-tech’ duality, so present in Japanese culture. In response to this brief the project proposes an interplay of contrasts at different levels, in which all the strategic decisions and choice of materials pursue a sophisticated balance between roughness and delicacy, chaos and order. The layout is solved by means of three 8-millimeter-thick curved stainless steel panels that separate and articulate the uses: the retail space by the shop window, fitting rooms, and backroom. Despite their extreme slenderness, the panels are self-bearing thanks to their curved geometry. They rest on a thick carpet from which emerge podiums that serve both as seating and as exhibition area. The fireproofed columns remain intact, as do the existing cables and ceiling accessories. The new suspended lights are installed on this chaotic backdrop, in an orderly grid...[+]