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ARCHITECTURE: AN ELASTIC SKY
First page: The mirror wall disappears, giving the illusion of an unlimited space Left: Clothes hang from the ceiling as if pulling it down Above: Interior perspective Next page left: Thick grey felt used for product displays Next page right: The ceiling filters the light
to architectural design that was behind the inception of the SND concept store, a space buried in the basement of a brand new skyscraper in bustling Chongqing. “[Like] all my projects, the SND concept didn’t come from rational thinking and planning, but from an accidental vision [and] intuition [that] slowly emerged from a deep subconscious level,” describes Gatti. The SND concept store has firm foundations in the depths of Gatti’s imagination. The aesthetics of the store originated from the idea of an elastic ceiling being pulled from the sky by the weight of imaginary objects. While this concept may sound a little far-fetched to some, it is these types of seemingly unusual designs in which Gatti thrives. “A good space is like a good movie or painting; you don’t need a rational explanation to appreciate it, you just have
Summer/Autumn 2015