The Cube

The Cube express your inner self by: Fábio Prates

Situated in the heart of Lisbon, in the city´s most lively neighbourhood, Baixa Chiado. This soon to open shop contains a Dance Store, Culture Space and Café sure to provide additional lively atmosphere to this wellknown neighbourhood. Baixa is traditionally the commercial center of the city, where there is a strong concentration of a variety of unique stores.

Previously known as the Rodrigues Book Store, which was built around 1860, this store is located between the Aurea Street and the Sapateiros street. The space, as well as most of the buildings surrounding it, shows some of the Architectural details used during the XIV century with some inspiration on Marques de Pombal, who helped re-build the city after the earthquake. Using two buildings to create a large Book Store, it was used many times as a short-cut from one street to the other. The double entry to the store allowed them to create a larger clientele.

The space grew over the years and so did the neighbourhood. It was not just a store that could have been put in any street, Rodrigues Book Store was part of Bairro Alto itself and its history.

by Lisbon School Design, 2019

The client: owner, briefing and target The new owner of this property and the client who requested this project is none other than Yves Saint Laurent. A French fashion Designer born in the late 1930s, who very quickly became one of the main Influencers of fashion.

Being very outside the box, Yves Saint Laurent explored the gender roles in the 19th and 20th Century.

Using masculine pieces, such as the tuxedo, to create powerful, yet sophisticated feminine looks. He approached fashion in a different perspective by wanting women to look comfortable yet elegant at the same time. He was also known for his use of non-European cultural references, and non-white models to express his ideas and inspire him to create magnificent looks.

Later in life, Yves Saint Laurent also became a big part in the arts.

Conjoining Art and Fashion together, in many pieces, such as the Mondrian Collection that was inspired by the Mondrian Painting

by Piet Mondrian. He also designed for the Performing Arts, creating exuberant pieces to be worn by different artists and dancers.

The idea is to give new life to the city of Lisbon and create a space for performers and non-performers to socialize and express their inner selves. The space will be made up of three different areas, that will have their own purpose, the first will be a store that will design custom fit Ballet tips. The second area will house a Cultural space, known as The Cube. Finally, in the back of the space, a Café. The three areas will be inspired by one of the pieces designed by Yves Saint Laurent. The spaces will appeal to, as stated above, performers and non-performers, providing a place where one can be unique and further express oneself.

On the Café, the clients will be able to taste and experiment vegan alternatives and, whenever needed, have one or two delicious Cocktails.

2

Yves Saint Laurent

Drawings of the Mondrian Collection

Yves Saint Laurent sketching designs

Functions: program, organization and areas The space, as previously stated, is made up of three main spaces and one space that is for the employees. The three main areas were created around the necessary dimensions and regulations.

The first area is the Store. The Store will allow for dancers to get their custom fit Ballet tips, picking their own style, material and color. The second area, that can be located in the middle of the space, will house The Cube, where one day we may find a Ballet class and the next day a type of Museum where you will be able to see Ballet tips throughout history. This Culture space can be changed to fit the needs and the current interests on a given day.

To the right side of The Cube, you will find two dressing rooms to be used mainly by Performers. Last, but not least, on the North side of the building you will locate the Café space, where up to 20 people may enjoy a drink and some food. The place was thought out in a very simple and ordinary form, the Designer did not want to destroy the flow between the areas and wanted to keep it very minimal so it woulld be easy to walk around and see the style used.

Store

24.50 m2

Culture Space

22.50 m2

Café

42.94 m2

Bathroom 1

2.72 m2

Bathroom 2

2.46 m2

Dressing Rooms 2 (same m2)

1.60 m2

Employees Section

16.19m2

An issue that helped sculpt the floorplan, was the fact that the store itself does not get very much sunlight during the day and, by not closing the space completely, the sunlight is able to travel throughout the space. This was achieved in two ways, the main way and the reason the space is called “The Cube” is the fact that the culture space is made up a large transparent cube that allows a complete view of the space. This idea of the cube is seen in different ways through out the three main spaces, such as in the Café, where the walls of the kitchen create a cube where the kicthen is inserted.

On the inside part of the space you will locate the employee section, this section will be available for every employee that works there. It is made up of a bathroom, eating area and 3 warehouses for each of the 3 main spaces, the Store, Culture Space and Café. When you exit the employee space from the right side, you will encouter the costumer bathroom, a female and male bathroom. The male bathroom will be used as well for disabled people, following the mandatory regulations.

Table of measurements in m2

Spatial Distribution and Furniture Organization Floorplan 3

Style: concept, environment and trends Some of Yves Saint Laurent pieces were used as inspiration for the project itself, but more specifically the Mondrian dress. The Mondrian dress gave homage to the painting by using its primary colors and geometric shapes. This was the launching point for the concept surrounding the project. By using the Primary colors and geometry as inspirations, the Designer decided to create a vibrant, colorful and tasteful space. Using Pop as the style of the space, he was able to depict the Mondrian dress on a larger canvas.

Pop Art is an exciting style of interior design focusing on popular culture; that means bold colors, bright gestures and striking markings. The geometry, as stated above was also an important aspect of the design, which can be seen throughout the space in the walls that separate the main areas.

This style can also be seen in the geometric furniture used, which is simple yet vibrant.

The Mondrian Dress When the project was being planned out, it was clear that the idea was not to replicate the actual dress and its colors but give an homage to it and the Pop style was the best way to create and reinvent the piece. It was also very important that the space did not feel heavy in relation to the furniture and the colors used, it is intended to be soft and harmonious just like Ballet performers. It is almost as if the space itself is an art piece to be enjoyed and looked at.

Mood Board made by the Designer – Fábio Prates 4

Geometry: scale, shapes and patterns With the Mondrian dress and paining in mind, the designer used basic shapes as abstract decor throughout the space. You can see this on the Culture area, which is essentially a big cube made out of yellow stained glass, allowing for sunlight to pass. Other places you can see the basic shapes are on some of the walls of the Store and the Café, almost creating a pattern that covers these walls. An aristic detail that allows for expressionism without needing to fill up the space with art pieces.

All the rectangular shapes are copied and used in different ways for a more coherent and combined space.The walls depict the Mondrian in a larger scale due to the shapes used. However, most of the furniture is round to break up the straight lines and soften the overall feel.

When it comes to patterns, once again, these are used very subtly.

There was a need to keep the space as empty as possible to allow for the easy flow of clients, but still have the necessary items.

Therefore, you can only locate three different patterns throughout the space. The first one is the straight lines of the woods used mostly on the Café and on the counter top in the Store. The second pattern is a mosaic in white that resembles the shape of the poufs on the Store. Here you will also find that pattern on the wall that has the mirror. The third mostly used pattern is the Modrian look alike pattern seen on the walls of both the Store and the Café.

Even though the main idea for this Project is the vibrancy of colors and geometry, it was not necessary to use a large amount of patterns, that could hinder the style and concept behind the space, making it confusing and overwhelming.

In addition, the furniture, much like the geometric styles used throughout the space, repeat themselves to provide a coherent space. Using objects and furniture with solid colours and materials, seen in the Cocept Board below, allows the space to not fill heavy and the customers are able to look at the space without getting lost on all the patterns.

The main focus on the project was the correct use of the style with inspiration on the client, Yves Saint Laurent. This created a harmonious space.

3

2

1

5

7 6

4

Concept Board 1- Metal chair is mustard yellow, Tolix 2- Acrylic bench, Charles Ghost, Phillip Stark 3- LED Aluminium Pendant light in mustard yellow, Louis Poulsem 4- Acrylic rounded table, TOPTOP Gamba Tonda, Phillip Stark 5- NUDE, Crystal glasses Set, Apple 6- Poufs in mustard yellow, Notti 7- Plate in Coral, Gato Preto

5

Material: construction, coatings and textures

Mondrian

Paleta de Cores

Colors: palette, temperature, symbology When it comes to colors, it was clear that these have to resemble the ones used on the Mondrian dress and on the actual painting by Piet Mondrian. However, they are not as vibrant as the primary colors used by Mondrian. The ones found in the space are considered tertiary. The four colors used are the Mustard Yellow, Coral, Blue and Turquoise. They were used through the space in a way that provided balance.

All four color were used in both the figure and the background.

These were chosen to give homage to the Mondrian Dress.

However, it was important that the colors were not super vibrant to soften the overall feel of the space. There was a mixture of temperatures, the blues provide a coolness to the place creating that sense of emptiness and minimal. However, by adding Coral and Mustard Yellow to the color pallet, it provided some warmness to the space, making it more inviting and operational.

In such a small space with almost no natural light, it was very important to choose the correct materials. These could elevate or ender the space. With that in mind, a few materials were tried with no success. The main focus here was to use materials that could enlarge the space and provide the natural sunlight to the different areas created, the main one being the Culture space as it was in the middle of both the Café and the Store. This is where the idea for The Cube came in to play.

Creating a glass cube provided this idea of emptiness, which allowed an enlargement of the space as you could see everything going on inside the cube. The color used was to adhere to the pallette chosen. This glass cube also became the main focus of the whole space. The glass was also used in other places, such as, the doors and the half walls to separate the Kitchen of the Café, once again providing the idea of a larger space and being able to have natural light on the three main areas. Acrylics were also used in some different furniture pieces to tie in to the idea of the minimal space and to not make it heavy. It was mostly used on the tables on the Café side and the benches used in the Store.

Matte metal was also used throughout the space, this again was so that there was no clash of material and patterns and to provide a coherent and minimal space, as previously stated.

Although the designer tried to not differ from its palette and patterns, wood was also used mostly in the café in coral and blue tones to match the rest of the background and figure. Because it was the same tone as most of the other items, the wood did not interrupt the flow between spaces, in fact it helped by providing a different texture in such a minimal space.

3D Simulation/ Café Space Rendering 6

Lighting: floor plan, distribution and luminaires By having such a minimal and colorful type of style, it was important to use lighting as a means to provide décor and show specific pieces as if it was a giant gallery show or museum. This was done by having some 3D pieces in LED, LED strips and rectangular lighting. By using the 3D pieces in LED, such as the positive wording seen around the space or the LED Ballerina created by the Designer himself, not only are provided different tones of lighting to the areas, but have become Pop pieces due to the use of different tones of colors in the LED. Using the color pallete in the light not only provides interesting pieces of art, but also creates a relationship between the tones used in background and figure surrounding them, since the colors will change depending on which tone is being used to light.

In addition, creating this type of lighting around The Cube, provided different tonalities to be created as the cube is darker and lighter depending on how close it is to the light, making the mustard yellow stained glass more vibrant and lively.

From the LED lights to rectangular lights and pendants, different types of lighting were used to provide focus to different areas of the space. The pendant lights were used in both the Store and the Café in some specific spots that will need more light and focus, such as the Café counters and the desk area in the Store. Another relationship that is created here is the relationship between the cube made of glass and the lights used on the outside of it. The cube itself does not have any lighting, however because it is made out of glass, the natural light and the Store lights fill up the cube providing it, its necessary lighting.

To depict The Cube and be able to show it off, spot lights were inserted above pointing at it and strips of LED were placed around the cube, creating almost like a showcase item.

3D Simulation/ Commercial and Cultural Space Rendering

Illumination floorplan

7

The Budget: investment, quantities and manufacturers Yves Saint Laurent is well known for working most of hist career at Dior, but later in his life he started to create pieces that could be purchased by the working women.

This was also requested for the space. It should be available to the average person with prices not too steep in the Café and in the Culture Space. This also had to be seen in the design itself, by not using items very expensive and luxurious. The space should be very approachable. Yves Saint Laurent provided a budget of €150.000 for the whole project.

This was possible by using the same items throughout the space and using some very general Manufactures that did not specify on a key item. This makes it possible to re-create the style for a very affordable price. For example, the metal chair in the mustard yellow color seen in the Café is manufactured by a few different companies and most of them are very inexpensive, averaging at approximately €40.00 per chair.

Other ways this was implemented was in the background, by having very few different materials, most of which have copies that can be found in more affordable prices.

3D Simulation/ Cultural Space and Dressing rooms Rendering

3D Simulation/ Café Space Rendering

Supply and built 1. Vinyl floor, anti feeder, bacteriostatic and fungistatic, for wetlands, blue colour, colour 2. Plastic paint, additive with antifunghi, in the colors Coral, Teal, Blue, and White and with the necessary coats for a good finish.

Measurements and prices Quantities 87.72 m2

Units

Total

42 €/ m2

3684.2 €

310 €/ un.

3720 €

12

4. The porcelain stoneware hexagon tiles.

8

16,5 x 14,5 cm Color mate white

3312.3 € 56.40 €/ m2 58.73 m2

Space: perspective, 3D simulation and rendering

3D Simulation/ Commercial Space Rendering

Overall The Cube is a place that does not only give an homage to its client, Yves Saint Laurent, but provides a space where you, the costumer and performer, can be yourself and express yourself in a new way having your own Ballet tips designed and custom made for you with the help of our knowledgeable staff. At the café you can try different vegan foods, such as the carrot cake, one of many assorted bagels with vegan bacon and avocado, the delicious salad options, which you can mix and match. Or if you are up for it, try the colorful cocktails. You can also express yourself by taking a Ballet class in The Cube, enjoy a performance by a visiting artist or attend a class on how to make the Ballet tips even more personal.

There is something for every inner artist. So do not hesitate in coming to visit this new original store in Baixa Chiado, in the heart of Lisbon. Enter for its design and color and stay for the atmosphere.

3D Simulation/ Café Space Rendering

3D Simulation/ Commercial Space Rendering