Taschen

CONCEPTUAL BRAND EXERCISE

spatial experience design | graphic design | branding | design strategy

Taschen's new concept flagship, located in the Arts District of Los Angeles is an experiential journey for anyone interested in Taschen's beautiful content and perspective.  Taschen offers many retrospective chronicles of famous artists, muscians and pop culture icons.  That same idea is embodied in the space's rotating art exhibit, seen throughout the space.  Sometimes the exhibit is organized by one artist, and others, a curation of works that tell a story of mood, perspective or popular culture.

Taschen Art District's main goal is to create a space that is not only about experiencing books, but about experiencing content

the brand

Taschen's retail environments embody the eclectic and diverse content they elevate in their luxury book. Not only are the books an immersive experience in themselves, but the way you are introduced to them, and they way you aquire them captivating and alway unique. Every Taschen store has a completely different look and feel, keeping each experience fresh and new.

Arts District : Los Angeles

Taschen Arts District is located at 810 Traction Ave, Los Angeles.  The surrounding neighborhood boasts a popular pie shop, a sausage and beer haus, multiple attractive coffee spots, trendy retail shops and Sci-Arc, a prominent architecture and design school.

Design Story

Taschen imagines a space where books as objects rule all. Our world is increasingly technologically based, but the beauty of a well crafted art book still lives on. Taschen’s Arts District flagship creates an experience around books that can’t be battled by technology. Instead, the experience of beautiful content is paired with technology to enhance the experience of books as object as we move toward a digital future.

Initially, the design and mood embodied a "2001 A Space Odyssey" aesthetic and more of a curated color palette of space age quality, perhaps leaning too much to the 'dystopian' quality. Incorporating the buildings existing architectural detail was key to the story, paying homage to the past but "painting" over it for innovation and growth. This story carries the ideas of change an adaptation to a once familiar, but now alien world, in reference to how technology has forever molded our experiences of content. This design strategy also references the great establishments that housed books for centuries.

Development

The design style was eventually re-imagined to feel more contemporary, keeping the architecture of the space. The stone details of the space became actually painted white, a 'risk' taken to achieve the visual representation of just how irrelevant the physical spaces of books have become, but acknowledging the permanence of space and structure.

The furnishings, just a little modern, a little contemporary and colorful. Colorful to bring the space to life, content is alive in the space and the energy carries the spirit of Taschen throughout.

Rotating art collections

In the spirit of Taschen's eclectic taste and content, the space holds a curated and themed art collection display on a quarterly basis.  This collection being the first in the series.

Communal Seating

The long corridor seating areas on both sides of the main floor are communal, social spaces. You can sit with friends, look at books, engage with the Taschen app on iPads and enjoy a cup of coffee from pageturner.

Physical model

 3/16"=1'0" Scale Model constructed from a computerized 3D model, formatted for laser cutting and 3D printing.  MDF, acrylic, brass, paper, paint, natural materials.