img.0 Printemps by UUfie – All photos by Michel Denance; courtesy of UUfie.
Founded in 1865 in the heart of Paris, Printemps – Springs in French – was the first department store to use electricity, elevator lifts and introduced modernize architectural feats such as a massive spiral staircase and a 42-meter high dome which was reconstructed in the seventies. Canadian architecture studio UUfie re-imagined the interior spaces by introducing a new atrium with a vertical dome allowing visitors to see all levels from below.
img.1 All photos by Michel Denance – Courtesy of UUfie.
The vertical dome, also called The Veil, penetrates the heart of the building paying homage to the store’s iconic stained glass domes seen in 1894. The Veil weighs 24 tons, but appears to float in front of the vertical circulation with a glass floor and mirror ceiling. It is 25.5 meters high and 12.5 meters wide, consisting of white-painted aluminum panels perforated with approximately 17,200 petal-shaped openings that reveal a layer of Dichroic glass.img.2 All photos by Michel Denance – Courtesy of UUfie.
The Dichroic glass changes colors based on people’s angle of view which gives an iridescent quality. The floral relief created by two layers of aluminum surface is an interpretation of images found in the historic stained glass. Transposed into a repetitive pattern that is then randomized to form the burst of colors on the white surface.
img.3 All photos by Michel Denance – Courtesy of UUfie.
The geometry of the veil is conceived by connecting the four corners of the void with simple curves in plan and elevation. A combination of two-dimensional curved panels gives the overall shape to the full veil. A precise assembly allowed for the perfect control of joints between each panel. On the opposite side of the veil is a one-way mirror wall that conceals twelve newly installed escalators. It creates a reflection that completes the symmetry of the veil and gives the appearance of a widened void.
img.4 All photos by Michel Denance – Courtesy of UUfie.
Visitors approach the space through a darkened vestibule leading to the escalators behind the one-way mirror. Between 4th-8th floors, an opening in the one-way mirror wall gives an unobstructed view of the veil. “The progression through the spaces gives varying perspective and moments to experience the ever-changing play of light and color in the void. Acting as the backbone of the main building, it channels the energy to the different retail concepts on each floor and brings part of the building’s history to the present”.
img.5 All photos by Michel Denance – Courtesy of UUfie.
img.6 All photos by Michel Denance – Courtesy of UUfie.
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