• Login / Join
  • About
  • •
  • Contact
  • •
  • Advertising
bustler logo
bustler logo
  • News
  • Competitions
  • Events
  • Bustler is powered by Archinect
  • Sign up for Bustler's Email Newsletters

  • Follow these Bustler feeds:

  • Search

    Search in

  • Submit

    What are you submitting?

    News Pitch
    Competition
    Event
  • Login / Join
  • News|Competitions|Events
  • Search
    | Submit
    | Follow
  • Search in

    What are you submitting?

    News Pitch
    Competition
    Event

    Follow these Bustler feeds:

  • About|Contact|Advertising
  • Login / Join

Peek into OMA's remodeling scheme for German department store KaDeWe in Berlin

By Bustler Editors|

Friday, Jan 22, 2016

Image via oma.eu.

OMA was recently commissioned to redesign the Berlin department store for major German retailer Kaufhaus des Westens, or KaDeWe for short. KaDeWe is Europe's biggest department store that has offered its customers a wide selection of products since it first opened in 1907.

Despite its long and steady run throughout the 20th century, KaDeWe was due for an upgrade as digital retail and rapid global economic shifts rendered the retail company's set-up as outdated.

In other recent OMA news, the firm currently has a retrospective exhibition in Rotterdam, and will also be designing "The Factory" – the new Manchester Arts Centre in England.

OMA lays out the current strategies for their KaDeWe remodeling scheme below. Scroll down to check it out.

Project description:

"Since its opening in 1907, KaDeWe has always been at the forefront of products’ selections while also setting new standards for patron services. Its unique size – the biggest department store in continental Europe – makes it akin to a city: a three dimensional network of paths, squares, neighbourhoods, activities and views unfolding through its large extensions and providing opportunities for commercial social and cultural encounters.

Its evolution reflects Germany’s modern history: from its origins in the early 20th century, through WWII destructions and the subsequent rebirth in the 1950’s when it became a symbol of the country’s post war reconstruction and economic success."

Image via oma.eu.

"Late 20th century modifications, accelerating global economic shifts and the challenges brought by the digital revolution have turned KaDeWe’s current set up into an obsolete model. There is now a need to investigate an alternative to the established retail model - a model able to redefine the relationship of the department store both with its patrons and with its physical and urban environments."

Image via oma.eu.

"Rather than treating the existing building as a singular mass, the project aims to break it into four quadrants, each one with different architectural and commercial qualities, targeted at different audiences: classic, experimental, young, generic, etc.; four department stores under one single roof, fragmenting the original mass into smaller, easily accessible and navigable components – similar to distinct urban sectors embedded into a unifying city fabric."

Image via oma.eu.

"Each quadrant addresses a different street entrance and is organized around its core void acting both as a main central atrium and a primary vertical distribution space. Through a process closer to the one of curating rather than designing, each void is developed specifically to offer four kinds of distinct spatial experiences and four efficient models of organization. Throughout the nine levels of the building the voids transform in size and extension, avoiding any repetition and making every floor unique: they disappear on the ground floor, morph through the commercial areas, and - in one case only - reach the new rooftop."

Image via oma.eu.

"A cross-shaped organizational system reinforces the presence of quadrants on each commercial floor, regulating the use of the spaces, the general circulation system, the transition between one quadrant and the other, the relationship between brands and curated spaces, while at the same time allowing the injection of unexpected programs, etc…It operates as infrastructure allowing for multiple conditions and uses. The existing vaulted rooftop restaurant is replaced by a new architecture – a compact glass volume, extending organically from the profile of the existing building. It is directly connected to the interior spaces through the most adventurous of the voids – the circular and concentric."

Image via oma.eu.

"The journey through the void culminates with a final escalator ramp releasing the visitors towards an expansive view of Berlin. Two ad hoc elevators, visible on the façade and acting as attractors, connect the public streets to the new level. The particular configuration of the new rooftop leaves an open air courtyard between the new architectural insert and the rest of the building. The resulting irregularly shaped courtyard provides a space for outdoor programs and unveils simultaneously the most exciting and yet most secret spaces of KaDeWe: its food laboratories."

Project text and images via.

Related

retail ● remodel ● redesign ● oma ● germany ● department store ● commercial design ● berlin

Share

  • Follow

    0 Comments

  • Comment as :

Peek into OMA's remodeling scheme for German department store KaDeWe in Berlin

ACSA announces the 2023 Architectural Education Award winners

'50 at 50' explores the impact of the New York Landmarks Conservancy through the lens of archival photography

Los Angeles announces six finalists for 1871 Chinese Massacre memorial design

LACMA's latest museum exhibition, designed by Bestor Architecture, presents an alternative to pre-set narratives on America's design history​ with Nordic countries

Blueprint Beijing: Ma Yansong invites architects to envision the city's future

Spatial justice advocate Liz Ogbu will join the University of Virginia's School of Architecture as an inaugural University Fellow

The 2023 United States Artists’ Architecture & Design Fellows are Alexis Hope, Bryan C. Lee Jr, Krystal C. Mack, and Deanna Van Buren

Sponsored Post by Buildner

Yoga House in the Bog advance registration deadline is approaching!

Sign up for Bustler's Email Newsletters

Sponsored Post by Buildner

Sansusī Forest Food Court advance registration deadline is approaching!

Sponsored Post by Buildner

Children’s Hospice advance registration deadline is approaching!

KPF founder Gene Kohn becomes first architect to be appointed as Urban Land Institute Life Trustee

Colloqate, WIP, FUNdaMENTAL, and Assemble showcase new exhibition at Art Omi celebrating the 'power of advocacy'

Influential British designer Ben Pentreath named 2023 Richard H. Driehaus Prize winner

Sponsored Post by AZURE Magazine

The 2023 AZ Awards is now open for entries!

Sponsored Post by Buildner

Milan Affordable Housing Challenge advance registration deadline is approaching!

Next page » Loading

Peek into OMA's remodeling scheme for German department store KaDeWe in Berlin

By Bustler Editors|

Friday, Jan 22, 2016

Share

Image via oma.eu.

Related

retail ● remodel ● redesign ● oma ● germany ● department store ● commercial design ● berlin

OMA was recently commissioned to redesign the Berlin department store for major German retailer Kaufhaus des Westens, or KaDeWe for short. KaDeWe is Europe's biggest department store that has offered its customers a wide selection of products since it first opened in 1907.

Despite its long and steady run throughout the 20th century, KaDeWe was due for an upgrade as digital retail and rapid global economic shifts rendered the retail company's set-up as outdated.

In other recent OMA news, the firm currently has a retrospective exhibition in Rotterdam, and will also be designing "The Factory" – the new Manchester Arts Centre in England.

OMA lays out the current strategies for their KaDeWe remodeling scheme below. Scroll down to check it out.

Project description:

"Since its opening in 1907, KaDeWe has always been at the forefront of products’ selections while also setting new standards for patron services. Its unique size – the biggest department store in continental Europe – makes it akin to a city: a three dimensional network of paths, squares, neighbourhoods, activities and views unfolding through its large extensions and providing opportunities for commercial social and cultural encounters.

Its evolution reflects Germany’s modern history: from its origins in the early 20th century, through WWII destructions and the subsequent rebirth in the 1950’s when it became a symbol of the country’s post war reconstruction and economic success."

Image via oma.eu.

"Late 20th century modifications, accelerating global economic shifts and the challenges brought by the digital revolution have turned KaDeWe’s current set up into an obsolete model. There is now a need to investigate an alternative to the established retail model - a model able to redefine the relationship of the department store both with its patrons and with its physical and urban environments."

Image via oma.eu.

"Rather than treating the existing building as a singular mass, the project aims to break it into four quadrants, each one with different architectural and commercial qualities, targeted at different audiences: classic, experimental, young, generic, etc.; four department stores under one single roof, fragmenting the original mass into smaller, easily accessible and navigable components – similar to distinct urban sectors embedded into a unifying city fabric."

Image via oma.eu.

"Each quadrant addresses a different street entrance and is organized around its core void acting both as a main central atrium and a primary vertical distribution space. Through a process closer to the one of curating rather than designing, each void is developed specifically to offer four kinds of distinct spatial experiences and four efficient models of organization. Throughout the nine levels of the building the voids transform in size and extension, avoiding any repetition and making every floor unique: they disappear on the ground floor, morph through the commercial areas, and - in one case only - reach the new rooftop."

Image via oma.eu.

"A cross-shaped organizational system reinforces the presence of quadrants on each commercial floor, regulating the use of the spaces, the general circulation system, the transition between one quadrant and the other, the relationship between brands and curated spaces, while at the same time allowing the injection of unexpected programs, etc…It operates as infrastructure allowing for multiple conditions and uses. The existing vaulted rooftop restaurant is replaced by a new architecture – a compact glass volume, extending organically from the profile of the existing building. It is directly connected to the interior spaces through the most adventurous of the voids – the circular and concentric."

Image via oma.eu.

"The journey through the void culminates with a final escalator ramp releasing the visitors towards an expansive view of Berlin. Two ad hoc elevators, visible on the façade and acting as attractors, connect the public streets to the new level. The particular configuration of the new rooftop leaves an open air courtyard between the new architectural insert and the rest of the building. The resulting irregularly shaped courtyard provides a space for outdoor programs and unveils simultaneously the most exciting and yet most secret spaces of KaDeWe: its food laboratories."

Project text and images via.

Share

  • Follow

    0 Comments

  • Comment as :

Archinect JobsArchinect Jobs

The Archinect Job Board attracts the world's top architectural design talents.

VIEW ALL JOBS POST A JOB

Preservation Architect

AYON Studio

Preservation Architect

New York, NY, US

Project Architect

GRT Architects

Project Architect

Brooklyn, NY, US

Intermediate Architect/Project Manager

Jayson Architecture

Intermediate Architect/Project Manager

San Francisco, CA, US

Architect (Contract employment outside the US)

Doctors Without Borders

Architect (Contract employment outside the US)

New York, NY, US

Project Architect for Award-winning Studio

ISTUDIO Architects

Project Architect for Award-winning Studio

Washington, DC, US

Project Leader - Min. 5 yrs post profession degree

Architecture Work Office

Project Leader - Min. 5 yrs post profession degree

New York, NY, US

Designer

Allied Projects

Designer

Long Beach, CA, US

FISP & Restoration Associate/s

Rock Arch Eng Corp

FISP & Restoration Associate/s

New York, NY, US

Architectural Designer (5-7 Years) - Commercial & Hospitality Focus

Pfeffer Torode Architecture

Architectural Designer (5-7 Years) - Commercial & Hospitality Focus

Nashville, TN, US

Senior Marketing Specialist

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)

Senior Marketing Specialist

New York, NY, US

Next page » Loading