Three shops, Graz

Three new shops, including a shoe shop and a clearance outlet for last season's styles opened recently and are worth visiting even if you have no intention of buying. All three feature interior design by the architecture firm purpur and belong to the same client. All were incorporated into historical buildings, which is not uncommon in Graz. What is unusual, is the vehemence with which the architects inserted contemporary solutions into the existing fabric.

Momentum is the biggest of the three. A glass tunnel leads to the slightly raised ground floor of the corner building. The flooring consists of wooden panels laid out in stripes, some of which have pale green carpeting inserted in them. From this pedestal of a floor, deliberately raised somewhat higher than necessary, unfold black wooden slabs. Attached to these are brass rails from which the clothes are hung. Set into the floor beneath these garment rail sculptures are illuminated glass tiles. The walls, however, are free of shelves.

A similar principle was applied in the clearance outlet. There too the architects limit themselves to the design of what is the most important piece of furniture in a fashion shop, the garment rails. The rails are joined to the columns, thus avoiding too much built-in furniture cluttering up the relatively small space. Light shines on the clothing from above, from track lights integrated into the garment rails.

The shoe store Albrecht 7 also reverses the usual treatment of retail spaces. The stock is not in a back room but in a piece of furniture that divides the showroom from the street. Facing this massive black block is a crystalline pleated wall made of cloth-covered metal frames, in front of which the shoes are displayed on glass shelves.