BALI BARRET, STORE 01 - RED BUNKER

Since 2003, Mrs. Bali Barret is part of the French Haute Couture House Hermès, where she took over as the new creative director for women's universe of silk and textile.

Prior to that, she created her own brand: Bali Barret.

The “red bunker” offers a brute face to the Shibuya neighbourhood, in Tokyo. Contrasting with the light and delicate Japanese buildings around it, the project detaches from its context and introduces a new concept of architectural graft with an archetype of military construction. Differing from its surroundings by the absence of a front window display, this UFO takes its inspiration from the tight volumes of military bunkers, with thick slanted walls, gun ports and baffles inside. In this project, the issues are considered the other way around, the red concrete façade acts as a landmark, a point of reference on the scale of the whole city and it can be seen from a great distance.

In the heart of Tokyo, this unexpected formalism, the façade’s opacity and the lack of information tickles the curiosity of the passersby. It was the projects’ goal : in six years, the store has acted as a landmark in the city.