Uniqlo flagship store in Tokyo
Herzog & de Meuron 

Uniqlo flagship store in Tokyo

Herzog & de Meuron 


The fire that in 1872 devastated an area of the city recently renamed Tokyo was seized by the Meiji government as an opportunity to implant on its streets the European-style model of modernization that it was trying to institute in the country. This is how Ginza came into existence as a commercial epicenter, a district that looked like the West and which has since been a choice location fought over by luxury brands and department stores. Marrioner Gate rose here in 1982 as a building with unobstructed spaces, with services pushed to the edges and eliminating views out.

An extensive déshabillage operation has reinstated the visibility of the original bold structure, a grid of concrete pillars and beams that has shed its partitions, false ceilings, and generic finishes to give an RTW fashion line’s flagship store its identity. A series of perforations in the horizontal slabs connects the various levels, which in combination with new openings to the street and display elements placed in the voids generates a rich play of visual connections, much in tune with the firm’s casual spirit and desire to give shoppers a fun experience.