Lafayette Champs Elysées Project

As part of the opening of the new Galeries Lafayette Champs Elysées department store the Studio Marianne Guély was interviewed to design the ceiling of the Perfume shop.

For this project, the studio team had received a strong element from the world of perfumery as a reference: the test paper. An essential working tool in the daily lives of perfumers, the test paper also accompanies salespeople, and represents the support of the discovery of a perfume for a customer. It receives the perfume, but also the notes that allow identifying it when it is later smelled again and becomes a memory.

Designing

The starting point of the reflection was to work around suspended test papers.

This creation is the result of a melding between 3D and model construction. To evaluate the elegance of the piece’s rhythm and form, its elaboration was simultaneously processed on software and in volume.

The composition develops over 22 meters, the first suspended test papers first composed in counterpoint, gradually meeting in staggered rows.

To match Bjarke Ingels’ architecture and create an echo in his mirrors, the ceiling was designed like an organ. Interspersed in lightness, these 1986 test papers accompany a breath for the visitors from the entrance of rue de la Boétie.

Realization

The specifications, the examination of the characteristics of the environment guided the technical choices to ensure that the poetry of the piece lives in harmony with the location.

Since paper is volatile in a draughty area, and it is fragile for a durable structure, the choice of PVC quickly became obvious. Its appearance similar to paper allows associating the aesthetic bias while benefiting from its physical qualities.

Its waterproofness and resistance make it easy to maintain, so it can be integrated easily to the location cleaning protocol and does not require any specific precautions.

The fireproof PVC test papers had been digitally cut.

Mounting

To support the piece, the project manager chose to start from an existing structure in the building. The perfect integration of the composition into its environment and the simplicity of fixing determined this choice. A grid based on that of the ceiling of the location was therefore created to receive the test papers.

In order to anticipate the ergonomics of the assembly, it was tested beforehand to full scale in the Studio Marianne Guély in Aubervilliers. These tests also made it possible for the client to validate the project on site, before making the final adjustments.