Some projects begin out of a certain sense of latency. It’s as though the project is there from the beginning, a latent presence, waiting to be revealed. It is in this excavation that the project is found, not invented. For the flagship store of Tiempos, a high fashion brand from Mexico City, this was the case. Our conceptual framework began by turning constraints into constructive factors. A space with an incredibly tight ceiling height and a footprint limited in area, with a particular structural rhythm to the columns and beams, a kind of pragmatic industrial enfilade. This was the basis.

In engaging a space with such tight constraints, it requires careful thinking of the architectural devices at hand to deploy and circumvent limitations. Like Houdini removing a straight jacket, precise and simple movement is required to achieve the illusion. It is in this way, we found the enfilade latently present in the space to be the perfect starting point. In our desire to create the perception of lateral expansion with this one-point perspective, we also wanted the frames to serve as portals that could manipulate perspective and create space. In the search for possible forms, the ellipse became a defining device, strategically deployed, creating the illusion of depth. Through this geometric manipulation of portal spacing, we appropriate the existing conditions and constraints to our advantage, imbuing the space with a renewed sense of dynamism, evoking echoes of Gordon Matta-Clark’s sculptural interventions or a Renaissance takeover of a medieval ruin.

In thinking of the actual product display, we were influenced by the dynamism of the objects reading against themselves, in this idea of overlap and layering, as the brand has a layered set of influences from Mexican streetwear, to the iconicity of recognizable fast fashion, and high-fashion couture influence. This was the ideal brief to explore flexibility in display, to truly give a kind of systematic pragmatism that would allow for infinite configurations of display and overlap. The ceiling system is engineered to accommodate a multitude of conditions, seamlessly adapting to transform the space for diverse purposes. This dynamic flexibility allows for the showcasing of a single garment per rack in a kind of scattered forest, to presenting a curated geometric layout as an ensemble, or even clearing the space entirely for a fashion show. In this way, the architecture not only elevates the presentation of fashion but also serves as a versatile apparatus, adapting to the evolving needs of the brand.

It is in this manipulation of space and form in a constrained space, and an entirely pragmatic and flexible hanging system of display, that the store becomes a machine for fashion, a mise en scene of moments and conditions, where architecture and object are entirely intertwined in the experience. The reflections of stainless steel and gray paints throughout provide a cold and neutral backdrop that does not contrast, but rather enhances the vibrancy of the presented works. An industrial bunker full of life.