(IN)COMPLETE

Off-White flagship store by Virgil Abloh and AMO in Miami, US.

In each issue we identify a key aesthetic trend evident in our archive of recent projects and challenge semiotics agency Axis Mundi to unpack its design codes. Here, we look at how exposed infrastructure in retail spaces is a resourceful response in unstable times.

In a moment of social, economic and ecological crisis, the hidden foundations that keep everyday life going have entered the foreground of our collective consciousness. Increased visibility of essential workers and critical infrastructure is reorienting societal perspectives towards the importance of maintenance, repair and prudent management of resources over the spectacle of innovation. Stripped of theatrical staging, digital distractions and overt lifestyle references, retail environments increasingly resemble transient building sites or fulfilment centres. This protean approach exposes a sober acceptance of the capricious nature of the current market. Investment in extravagant interiors is eschewed in favour of industrial austerity. Drywall panels, storage trolleys and translucent polycarbonate dividers ensure easy spatial reconfiguration in response to fluctuating levels of supply and demand. In a violent riposte to the sleek aesthetics of the information age, the aloof and intimidating presence of heavy machinery such as hand lifts and engine cranes echoes the instrumental function of the eyewear, footwear and clothing on sale. The dialect of bluecollar authenticity can be read in this fetishization of utility, signalling the desire for a return to substance, structure and protection in the midst of instability. However, these spaces do not invite guests to linger. Limited inventory, clean lines and hard edges encourage expedient evaluation of goods rather than relaxed browsing. Stencilled signage and overhead strip lighting demarcate expansive open spaces and direct patrons towards discrete collection zones, efficiently uninterrupted by any distinction between the shop floor and backroom. Previously perceived to be mundane, the nobility of construction is further acknowledged in manifestations of labour left unconcealed. From the crude affordance of stacked wooden pallets and arbitrary arrangements of rubble, to the understated display of copper-plated wiring ensconced behind transparent acrylic, subtle markers of manual intervention offer reassuring evidence of human enterprise that counteract the creeping inertia of segregated, screencentric living. Elsewhere, stratified bundles of discarded corrugated cardboard, foam and recycled paper held together with cable ties are transformed into ingenious in-store seating, marrying a scrappy scavenger mindset with engineering nous and offering a glimpse into a more improvisational future. Occasional ornamentation can be found in the form of furniture-inspired objects or ambient visual stimulation provided by sporadic paint swatches and the undulations of brushed corrugated steel. More emphatic interventions like interior scaffolding act as arresting signifiers of resourceful agility. Indicative of a pressing shift towards effective sustainability, the hollow lightness of bamboo belies a greater tensile strength than steel, while the intersecting beams create abstract geometries that refract a chaos of light and shadow. A quiet humility reverberates throughout spaces caught in a state of perpetual beta, reflecting the uncertainty of our times. Making infrastructural elements more visible forces us to reckon more squarely and honestly with systems of consumption, whose migration into the online sphere has only been accelerated by the pandemic crisis. Adaptability is the essential value that unites environments under construction. Going beyond resilience or robustness, materialist spaces are designed to thrive in the face of fragility and scarcity, becoming sites of industrial resistance to be made and unmade in perpetuity.• axis-mundi.co

Sunghoon Han Andersson Bell store by Studio Unravel in Seoul, South Korea.