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1. Main Facade 5898 px 4090 px 2 MB A3 print |
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2. Side Facade 6173 px 4574 px 2 MB A3 print |
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3. Material Detail 4462 px 5938 px 2 MB A3 print |
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4. "Deja Vu" logo wall 5931 px 4497 px 2 MB A3 print |
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5. First Floor Gallery Corridor 4377 px 5889 px 1 MB A3 print |
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6. Second Floor - Recycle Books 4459 px 5890 px 899 KB A3 print |
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7. Book Shelf Detail 4426 px 5895 px 900 KB A3 print |
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8. Second Floor - Recycle Book 5800 px 3852 px 1 MB A3 print |
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9. Second Floor - Recycle Book 5925 px 4416 px 1 MB A3 print |
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10. Second Floor - Recycle Book 6110 px 4609 px 924 KB A3 print |
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11. Book Shelf Detail 3940 px 5265 px 1 MB A3 print |
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12. Second Floor - Recycle Book 6367 px 4548 px 968 KB A3 print |
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13. Second Floor - Recycle Book 5857 px 4380 px 1 MB A3 print |
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14. Second Floor - Recycle Book 4811 px 6275 px 2 MB A3 print |
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15. Second Floor - Cashier 5877 px 4250 px 1 MB A3 print |
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16. Third Floor - Recycle Cloth 6404 px 4827 px 1 MB A3 print |
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17. Third Floor - Bench Detail 4462 px 5914 px 1 MB A3 print |
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18. Third Floor - Cloth Rack detail 4443 px 5927 px 985 KB A3 print |
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19. Third Floor - Recycle Cloth 6023 px 4414 px 2 MB A3 print |
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20. Third Floor - The Fitting Room 5919 px 4096 px 1 MB A3 print |
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21. Third Floor - Window detail 4524 px 5990 px 1011 KB A3 print |
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22. First Floor Plan 3508 px 2481 px 136 KB Print - Low res only |
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23. Second Floor Plan 3508 px 2450 px 180 KB Print - Low res only |
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24. Third Floor Plan 3508 px 2450 px 166 KB Print - Low res only |
Located at Anfu Road, Shanghai, a zigzag three-storey building that used to be the Shanghai Film Distribution and Exhibition Corporation, it is now the Déjà Vu Recycle Store. The brand is found in Beijing, and believes that ‘good things are worth buying twice'.
To transfer and materialise a virtual platform into a physical space, the challenge to be tackled by OFFHAND is about how to mould a recycle store for Déjà Vu and enrich it with an easily visualisable and perceivable brand character - a place that is full of craftsmanship and always remain intriguing for those who eager the ‘casual treasure hunt’. While integrating these two very different fields – recycling books and clothes, we are not looking for a mixture but creating a different model. We hope to erase the ritualistic experience from the traditional book store and consumerism in the fashion industry, at the same time wishing to break the stereotypical images of “second-hand store”.
Déjà Vu suggests splitting the two-storey high façade into half vertically, lowering its original visual scale to a height, making the entrance more appealing to the public. At the same time, the entrance door is purposely set back, generating a shelter for pedestrians.
The loveable feature of Déjà Vu began with two kiddie rides placed at the entrance, bringing back our childhood.
Taking the advantage of the narrow corridor, we re-fabricate it; identify spatial depth through layers of gates and openings. It becomes a gallery, that showcases Déjà Vu’s brand philosophy and the process of refurbishing secondhand goods.
The second storey is the recycle book market. After the demolishing work, the site’s characteristic feature from the 1970s is once revealed in front of us – the magnificent window openings. We have then decided to emphasise it. With the minimal new erection of walls, we want to maximise the amount of natural light in the space, to brighten up the space. We deco these 70s window openings with handcrafted recycled natural stone mosaic, further enhancing its existence, and framed the outdoor environment into scenes.
At this stage, the challenge we are facing now is how to make the shopping experience pleasant and relaxing with such an amount of goods fulfilled. Grocery shopping popped into our mind. It is something that is embedded in our daily life, something that we are all familiar with and confident in doing. We mimic the grocery shopping experience, inserting selected features into the site, such as veggie shelves. After a year of operation, we have received compliments such as “ picking books in the way of picking up vegetables and fruits gets a feeling of enriching the ‘spiritual basket’.”
We use natural pine wood for bookshelves and counter projecting warmness; creamy white terrazzo for the floor, paying respect to 70s and 80s Shanghai, déjà vu back our memories of the past.
To echo Déjà Vu’s advocation of environmentally friendly and craftsmanship, we utilised a huge amount of natural stone offcut. The stone materials were manually cut into a 1x1cm mosaic with a polished round-off corner. It was laid at many locations, running through the whole indoor and outdoor space, where the natural sense of craftsmanship derives.
The recycle clothing market is on the third storey. The spatial arrangement follows the same logic as the book store, besides necessary functional spaces, the rest are open for cloth display of over 2000 pieces from different brands. Round and cute design elements from book store props have been applied to all cloth rack props designs.
We believe both the comprehensive experience Déjà Vu catered for its customer and the immersive spatial atmosphere we tailored for the brand has contributed to Déjà Vu’s goal - to bring its customer a breath of ‘effortless chic’, the experience of fashion that is constrained and pressure-free.
The lighting scheme focused on creating an atmosphere, using the miner lamp to light up every object evenly, continuing to reiterate relaxation and a sense of respite.
Through this project, we are fully aware of the importance of sorting and prioritizing information. It is like what Kashiwa Sato mentioned in his book 《Kashiwa Sato’s Ultimate Method for Reaching the Essentials》, his methodology is to adapt a basic principle of visual design – clarifying the information to be conveyed, grasping its essence, and deriving visual language and signposts that are immediately accessible to a mass audience – and apply it to a wider, more diverse range of situations far exceeding the purview of visual design.
At the beginning of every project, all the information gathered is fragmentary, and to us, design is a continuous process of filtering and combing information and ideas till we have finally grasped the essence of its brand. If a simple comment from Déjà Vu’s user says “This is what it should be like to Déjà Vu Recycle Store!”, it will be a great encouragement to us.
Project size | 600 m2 |
Completion date | 2020 |
Building levels | 3 |
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Offhand Practice | Designer |