Reboot Retail Architecture March 23, 2015 Brady William Ginn Bachelor of Fine Arts in Architecture Savannah College of Art and Design

Thesis to be submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Cincinnati in partial fullﬁllment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture

In the School of Architecture and Interior Design of the College of Design/Architecture/Art and Planning

Committee Chair: John Hancock Research Chair: Michael McInturf ABSTRACT A dramatic shift is taking place in the retail industry: the monumental rise of e-commerce has decreased the validity of and need for brick-and- mortar retail stores. As online shopping continues to proliferate, how can retail architecture survive? This thesis will explore retail typology, the digital age of shopping, and “brandscaping,” through a cycle of research, literature, and precedent analysis. Applicable principles will be exercised in the design of a DC Comics flagship retail store, while also utilizing comic book methodology. Focus will be placed on analysis of the current state of the shopping type, the needs of the next generation of shoppers, the relationship between technology and retail stores, a study of the client’s brand and culture, and the relationship between comic books and architecture. The retail store will be reinvented as a place for something greater than fulfilling a need; it will evolve into a space that emphasizes the development of a personal relationship between the brand and the customer. Pieces of shopping architecture have the potential to become zones of action and play where a user can become a superhero, harness their powers, and learn to fly. Retail architecture must evolve into an experience-based destination, creating an emotional relationship with the user through an engaging manifestation of the brand’s narrative.

ii iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To Robert Glassner

For encouraging my creativity through crude cardboard sculpture and setting me on the path to become an architect

To William Ginn, Joy Ginn, Jennifer Ginn, Benjamin Ginn, and Kristen Ginn

For unconditional love and support

To LaRaine Montgomery, Matthew Dudzik, Timothy Woods, Daniel Brown, Algar Thagne, Michael Zaretsky, and John Hancock

For challenging me and helping me ﬁnd my voice

To Rebekah Sigfrids, Kathryn Wiseman, and Marta Smurzynska

For helping me realize my own talent

To My Friends, of whom there are far too many to name

For laughs, critiques, and thousands of beautifully bonkers stories over the last seven years

vi I stumbled upon a site that CAPTIONS The other night I was photos of average people WITH QUOTES trying to cure a bout of FROM IN-DEPTH PERSONAL INTERVIEWS WITH THE SUBJECT. insomnia with a healthy MEOW. dose of Internet.

“I want to be an artist’ I WAS IMMEDIATELY STRUCK “WHAT KIND OF ART DO YOU BY SOMETHING. WANT TO MAKE?” PREFACE “I WANT TO MAKE DIFFERENT During my third year at the Savannah College of Art and Design, 1 Stanton, Brandon. Facebook. May VERSIONS OF MYSELF.” 15, 2013. Accessed December 28, under the tutelage of LaRaine Montgomery I took a studio course in 2014. https://www.facebook.com/ humansofnewyork/photos/a.1021070 retail design. I collaborated with Gabriella Rose Reagan, fashion design 73196735.4429.10209991653078 MY WORK IS A STRANGE AND WONDERFUL 4/462990480441724/?type=1&rele AMALGAM OF THE MOST BONKERS student and former recurring Sesame Street cast member. Using her vant_count=1. MOMENTS OF MY LIFE... dark and twisted senior collection, I designed her ﬂagship retail store as an allusion to a Gothic cathedral. A place where the innovative and unusual could be worshiped and fashion would take on the qualities of a god. The retail store redeﬁned as a place of worship. Design concepts, structural elements, and analogues of religious iconography woven together to create something melancholic, strange, and beautiful.

When I worked for Victoria’s Secret I was given the opportunity to assist in the development of new visual concepts for the brand’s ﬂagship stores. As much as I loved the work, it felt hollow. The stores lacked experience. The brand is powerful, Victoria’s Secret is the only name in women’s underwear, but there was no heart or incentive to drive customers into the store. Why go to the mall when the product is a click away?

Late in my college career I was given the advice to show more of my personality in my portfolio. I didn’t know how to implement that critique until a late night bout of insomnia and a visit to my favorite time sink, Humans of New York. The blog juxtaposes beautiful portraits of ordinary subjects against answers to intimate interview questions. In one a child was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up. He said “an artist.” The photographer followed up with “What kind of art do you want to make?” The child said, “I want to make different versions of myself.“1 My art has never been so eloquently explained. I thumbed through my portfolio and saw these vignettes of my life experiences projected onto the architecture I created. Having been a fan of comic books since my ﬁrst issue of Young Justice in the seventh grade, and having sketched superhero versions of myself and my friends for even longer than that, the way to best represent my story was through a comic sequence. Comics have a unique ability to create a cohesive composition while dividing the story into these speciﬁc, isolated experiences.

My thesis is an epitome of the strange, hilarious moments that made me love comic books, retail design, architecture, and high-concept spaces. The project is a beautifully weird amalgam of the bonkers things that brought me to this place as a designer and a person. THE BIZARRE AND BEAUTIFUL MOMENTS THAT MAKE ME WHO I AM SUBCONSCIOUSLY INTEGRATE THEMSELVES INTO THE WORK, DEFINING MY UNIQUE STYLE.

viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ii Abstract vi Acknowledgments viii Preface

5 BACKGROUND

9 LITERATURE REVIEW 11 “The Next Big Thing” 13 Gen Z 15 The Future of Retail 17 The Store of the Future 19 New Super Identity 20 Brandscaping

21 PRECEDENT ANALYSIS 23 Burberry World Live 25 Tesla Design Center Stores 27 MoMA Ps1 Young Architects’ Competition 29 The Story 31 City Museum

33 BACKGROUND SUMMARY

35 PROPOSITION

37 CLIENT AND CULTURE 39 Comic Book Culture 41 The History Of DC Comics

43 COMIC BOOKS AND ARCHITECTURE 45 Introduction 47 Archigram 49 Instant City 51 Mocca 53 This is Not a Lovesong 55 Dresden Military History Museum 57 Conclusion

59 SITE ANALYSIS

65 DESIGN AND EXPERIENCE NARRATIVE 67 Design Introduction 69 Thesis Into Design 71 Program Experience Walk-Through 75 Conclusion

77 BIBLIOGRAPHY 79 Text Bibliography 80 Image Bibliography

2 Reboot Retail Architecture

4 Background

6 “Smart brands, however, don’t consider [the growth of internet shopping] 2 Keane-Cowell, Simon. “Selling Spaces: Otto Riewoldt’s Brandscaping explains the way in which a brand can and new directions in retail design.” Architon- to be the death-knell of the physical point of sale – the store – but rather ic. http://www.architonic.com/ntsht/sell- must elicit an emotional response in a branded space in order to develop ing-spaces-new-directions-in-retail-de- as a challenge to reimagine its meaning. If everything’s cheaper on the sign/7000706 (accessed February 27, a personal relationship with the customer. Internet, how do you make real-time, real-place shops meaningful? How 2014). do you turn online brand fans back into analogue consumers?”2 For over Conceptual precedents for this thesis include London’s Burberry World a decade, online shopping has experienced an unparalleled growth. Live flagship store, the classic brand’s attempt to integrate the its E-commerce has many advantages over traditional retail spaces. Online physical and online identities into a digital/real world hybrid environment. retailers offer a much wider selection. Giants like Amazon have much Tesla’s retail stores use a sequenced narrative path through the space, lower listing fees, storage costs, and smaller staff than physical stores. allowing customers to control the design of their cars. MoMA PS1’s This allows prices to stay low among online shops. Because websites Young Architects Competition annually reinvents the spatial organization have no defined hours of operation, customers have the ability to shop and exterior expression of the museum’s courtyard space. The Story’s anytime anywhere. This versatility makes competition extremely difficult perpetually changing theme creates a new experience for users during for physical stores. Retail architecture needs to be reinvented to survive. every visit. The City Museum completely integrates architecture and The retail store can’t just be a place to buy anymore; it must become a hub experience into a volume that is as much sculpture as it is building. of experiences. A store transforms into a branded landscape, engaging a customer’s senses and developing a personal relationship with them. The physical point of sale must be a place of authenticity, working with the brand, the user, and technology to create extraordinary experiential moments.

The proposal is supported by a number of pieces of literature. The Harvard Design School’s Guide to Shopping by Chuiha Judy Chung, Jeffrey Inaba, Rem Koolhaas, and Sze Tsung Leong is a series of essays that track the evolution of the marketplace and the spaces created for the purpose of spending. Fitch’s study on the shopping habits of millennials, “GenZ,” explains the affect of the next generation on retail design. ARUP’s The Future of Retail explores the potential of technology integration into the new retail environment. In The Store of the Future: The New Role of the Store in a Multichannel Environment, Deloittle lays out the opportunities to engage the user experientially on different levels. New Super Identity: The New Era of Creative Branding discusses the successes of branded architecture in conveying the brand narrative.

8 Literature Review

10 THE NEXT BIG THING BY DANIEL HERMAN THE HARVARD DESIGN SCHOOL GUIDE TO SHOPPING “THE NEXT BIG THING” IN SHOPPING In the essay, “The Next Big Thing,” from the Harvard Design School Guide 3 Chung, Chuihua Judy, Jeffrey Inaba, Rem Koolhaas, Sze Tsung Leong, and Tae ARCHITECTURE MUST BE... Endlessly to Shopping, Daniel Herman discusses the reality of the next big thing in Cha. Harvard Design School Guide to reproducable retail architecture. Herman defines The Next Big thing as an intangible, Shopping. (KoÌln: Taschen, 2001) 528. LARGE unreachable element. Consistently short-lived, he argues that no one 4 Chung et al., Harvard Design, 532. New type can sustain the demands of the constantly changing shopping 5 Chung et al., Harvard Design, 535. environment. “Architecture was never so lively and never so crude. This 6 is the architecture of shopping. It is unstable, always in transition. It is Chung et al., Harvard Design, 536. obvious in its tactics but confident in its ability to seduce, for however brief an interlude.”3 Daniel Herman explains that retail architecture doesn’t age; it dies young. The ones that survive are constantly updated through expansion and renovation; they must cling to their youth and try to maintain their newness. “THE NEXT BIG THING” IN SHOPPING Additionally, The Next Big Thing must be large and replicable. “Reilly’s ARCHITECTURE IS QUITE LITERALLY Law of Retail Gravitation…posits that, all other factors being equal, THE NEXT BIG THING. shoppers will patronize the largest shopping center they can get into easily.”4There are more than fifty shopping malls in the United States with one and half million square feet of retail area. Smaller malls are consistently closing, despite the success of regional malls; most markets only have room for one major shopping space. Rem Koolhaas explains, “Through size alone, such buildings enter an amoral domain, between good and bad. Their impact is independent of their quality.”5 Now that the building is Next (New) and Big, it must become a thing. The retail establishment can almost follow the trajectory of a fashion trend. It’s what everyone’s wearing this season, but then it’s out. Regarding retail developers “What’s the latest thing? They ask. Now it’s the big box, now it’s the entertainment zone, now the outlet mall. Whatever it is, they do it over and over again.”6 In order to hold attention, The Next Big Thing must be able to grow and change, to constantly be large, new, and endlessly reproducible, in order to meet the needs of any new user generation.

12 GEN Z SHOPPING BY FITCH THERE ARE FIVE STAGES OF SHOPPING FOR GEN Z. “Fundamentally, the old rules of retail no longer apply.”7 This quote 7 Fitch, GenZ Shopping: Designing retail for the constant state of partial attention illustrates the strongest conclusion of the study conducted on the (London: Fitch, 2010) 001. BUYING SHOW & TELL shopping habits of the millennial generation by Fitch, a retail design 8 DECISION Fitch, GenZ Shopping, 003. BROWSING MAKING and branding consultancy, in Gen Z Shopping: Designing Retail for the FINDING 9 Constant Atate of Partial Attention, Fitch describes this generation as Fitch, GenZ Shopping, 015. OUT the most complex and important consumer of all time. By 2020 the 14- 10 Fitch, GenZ Shopping, 016-018. 19 year-olds of today will be the largest group of shoppers, making up forty percent of the United States, Europe and BRIC countries’ markets and ten percent of the rest of the world’s markets. Euphemistically, GenZ is described as having the power to traverse digital and physical planes, “…snapping pics and screen grabs as they go, and leaving a trail ASPIRATIONAL BROWSING of hashtags in their wake….Their world is constant, so if they’re awake at 3am, they expect you to be too: open all hours, access all areas. BROWSES ONLINE TRACKS PRICES AND TAKES ADVANTAGE OF SHOWS OFF They’re as socially conscious as they are brand-conscious and browse a IDENTIFIES PURCHASES BUILDING DIGITAL WAITS FOR THE BEST BARGAIN WEBSITES THEIR HAUL VIA SOCIAL MEDIA scrapbook of wants and ideas as they peruse your shelves, all the while SCRAPBOOKS AND POSSIBLE PRODUCT getting real-time feedback from friends.”8 PRICE-CHECKING

Engaging this generation is crucial to successful retail space: “The role THEREFORE THE THREE STAGES OF ENGAGEMENT and design of stores themselves will also have to change – and that FOR THE GENERATION Z USER... THE HUMAN doesn’t just mean new fixtures and fittings, it means real, dramatic SCALE change. Stores will need to offer compelling, brand-led experiences that are more about aspirational browsing and less about a direct push for transactions. They will be launched in ‘beta’ mode – not yet perfect but inviting customers to get involved with making them better.”9 Fitch challenges retailers to engage the GenZ user on three scales. The physical scale encourages involvement in the design process; the human scale satisfies the need for human interaction and personal attention, and the digital scale, which satiates the ever-present need to feel connected.10 The importance of these three scales and the direct impact on contemporary store design is clear in Arup’s The Future of Retail.

THE PHYSICAL SCALE REPRESENTS CUSTOMER INVOLVEMENT IN ALL SATISFYING THE NEEDS THE DIGITAL SCALE STAGES OF THE BRAND’S PRODUCT FOR HUMAN INTERACTION SATISFIES THE NEED AND STORE DESIGN AND PERSONAL ATTENTION TO FEEL CONNECTED.

14 THE FUTURE OF RETAIL BY ARUP In The Future of Retail, Arup explores the most prominent elements of 11 Arup, The Future of Retail, (New York: Store design has become more focused on selling users an experience 14 Arup, The Future of Retail, 18-21. 2013) 36. the future of retail design and the ways in which they begin to shape as a way to pull them into brick and mortar retail environments. In May 15 Arup, The Future of Retail, 21. 12 Arup, The Future of Retail, 6-7. customer behavior. They begin by defining their key insights in the 2011 Diesel used social media to promote a series of events to celebrate 16 Arup, The Future of Retail, 31. retail sector. Embracing social media and mobile technology, seamless 13 Arup, The Future of Retail, 14-17. the inauguration of the fictional island of Diesel. Customers could enter digital and physical experiences, focus on the quality of a customer’s any store to obtain a “passport” and win stamps to be redeemed for in-store experience, technology as the catalyst to reinvent stores, and concerts, parties, holidays, workshops and merchandise.14 Retail spaces improvements in supply chains and sustainability. Users will begin to can become interactive areas to engage the customer, studying behavior expect retailers to embrace the most up-to-date technology online and in and tailoring experiences to suit them. In Japan, the clothes retailer store, becoming attracted to brands that can keep up with technological Vanquish engages the physical and digital scales, by hanging products advancements. from RFID-embedded clothes hangers. When a product is lifted off the rack, a plasma screen on the wall above the rack is triggered, displaying “Technology stands out as the most impactful factor in information, imagery and video content related to the product giving the shaping the sector’s future. Smartphones and associated user control over the media presented in the store.15 applications are unlocking new consumer behaviors, which are causing retailers to rethink the way they sell goods With increased concern over sustainability users expect retailers to and services. Contactless payment, RFID and augmented reduce energy consumption and increase efficiency across the supply reality are creating opportunities for retailers to redesign chain and inside the store. The Zara eco-store uses recycled grey water their physical stores and curate new customer experiences and low energy lighting to lessen the store’s environmental impact. that fuse the physical and digital worlds. Flexibility will be The building is screened with perforated metal panels, which allow the key to success as retailers continue to experiment with store to take advantage of daylight. It has been fitted with a monitoring these and other technologies across all channels.”11 system that automatically adjusts the temperature, humidity and light The piece speaks specifically about the six insights and where they levels based on environmental conditions. The store consumes 30% appear in practice. By 2015 nearly every new mobile device will less energy than the average for conventional shops; it saves up to 50% be smart and studies suggest that nearly 40% of Google searches in water usage and reduces CO2 emissions by more than 150 tons each happen on mobile platforms. Brayola takes advantage of this, as well as year.16 These key factors appear consistently in design research and engaging Fitch’s human scale. The company uses social media to allow become integral in the development of the final project. women to anonymously recommend their favorite bras to other users. In return, based on their stats and preferences, they receive specialized recommendations.12 It has become vital for retailers to engage on every possible platform. Too often, with a single brand, online and in-store sales are competitive; the focus should remain on the customer not on the channel through the development of seamless experiences across the board. Shopkick engaged the digital scale by creating an app that uses location-tracking software to provide discounts just by a customer walking into a store.13

16 THE LARGEST PRESSURES ON THE FUTURE OF PHYSICAL RETAIL ARE...

THE STORE OF THE FUTURE BY DELOITTLE “In this new reality, incremental adjustments to the store format and 17 Deloittle, The Store of the Future: The New Role of the Store in a Multichan- portfolio will no longer be sufﬁcient to survive, a radical rethink of the nel Environment, (Cincinnati: Deloitte, purpose of the store in the consumer shopping journey and the number 2013), 2. of stores required to reach the consumer is necessary.”17 Deloittle, a 18 Deloittle, The Store of the Future, 4. consultancy business, has partnered with the MIT Media Lab and others 19 Deloittle, The Store of the Future, 6-8. on studies into retail design and speciﬁcally the retail store of the future. COMPETITION FROM ONLINE In The Store of the Future: The New Role of the Store in a Multichannel THE EVOLVING ROLE RETAILeRS AND SPECIALTY Environment they introduce similar concepts as the previous articles, OF TECHNOLOGY SHOPS SUSTAINABILITY focusing on the in-store experience in the digital age. They encourage radically rethinking the store, encouraging designers to build the store as SO THE BEST STRATEGIES FOR THE PHYSICAL a branded destination for the consumer. Deloittle cites the evolving role STORE TO MAINTAIN RELEVANCE ARE.... of technology, tougher competition from online retailers and specialty stores, and sustainability as three of the largest pressures on the future of retail design.18

In order to address these structural shifts, Deloittle suggests a series of solutions. First of all, creating the store as a destination to augment the branded experience. The focus needs to shift to engaging the customer, creating entertainment destinations with increasing numbers of video screens and interactive displays to attract customers. The store should become an embodiment of the brand, expressing the values through the architecture and offering a way for retailers to express their sustainable practices. Retailers can begin to offer new service such as lifestyle CREATE THE STORE developing VIDEO SCREENS TELL THE BRAND STORY cafes, spas and salons, or complementary brands within the walls of the AS A DESTINATION AND INTERACTIVE DISPLAYS THROUGH THE ARCHITECTURE store. Formats of the space can begin to change as well, using movable ﬁxtures, potentially changing the experience for the customer during different trips. Shops can begin to decrease inventory, relying on online components to carry the missing pieces of their entire line. Technology can begin to be integrated into stores, allowing users to scan barcodes for product information.19 Integration of technology is a welcome addition to future store design and a necessity for a retail space to remain relevant in the changing marketplace.

add unique and use movable fixtures to integrate new technology unexpected program create new experiences

18 NEW SUPER IDENTITY BY ALLRIGHTSRESERVED BRANDSCAPING BY OTTO RIEWOLDT “In an increasingly saturated environment where online is 20 Allrightsreserved, New Super Identity: Otto Riewoldt deﬁnes the signiﬁcance of branded environments in 23 Riewoldt, Otto, Brandscaping: Worlds of The New Era of Creative Branding, (New Experience in Retail, (Basel: Birkhaus- the new downtime, the traditionally subliminal nature of York, 2011) 12. Brandscaping: Worlds of Experience in Retail “Brandscaping- the three- er-Publishers for Architecture, 2002) 7.

pure visual branding is quickly fading from focus. Today’s 21 Allrightsreserved, New Super Identity, dimensional design of brand settings – is all about forging backdrops 24 Riewoldt, Brandscaping, 8. mot successful brands leap from beyond the logo, are 13. for experiences with a high entertainment value, from flagship stores 25 Riewoldt, Brandscaping, 8. locally aware, create their own worlds, tell us stories, hijack 22 Allrightsreserved, New Super Identity, to corporate theme parks, from customized, modular shop systems to blogs, augment reality, and even curate pop culture itself. 13-15. innovative mall concepts.”23 The text cites architecture and interior design Such is the new super identity: a brand with personality.”20 as the primary instrument of customer-oriented communication of their personality. When choosing specific brands, an individual does not just New Super Identity: The New Era of Creative Branding discusses the choose a product they choose an identity. They define membership for innovations in branded design. The largest innovation being the rise of the “in” crowd, providing belonging and security. As Naomi Klein explains, Omni-channel marketing, it engages users physically, digitally, socially, “Brands are the main source of identity. The brand fills a vacuum and and everywhere in between. The text highlights several case studies for forms a kind of armor, taking over the part once played by political, brand engagement, arguing “…real space still rules.”21 Diesel created a philosophical or religious ideas. Logos are becoming fetishes.”24 train platform mosaic mural of QR codes linking directly to their website. Addidas used a similar QR code strategy, inviting customers to upload Brand experience must shift to an emotional plane. Traditional customer selfies to its mobile site. These images were processed to resemble interactions will no longer suffice; users are looking for a characteristic the iconic Stan Smith portrait printed on Adidas shoes. Applications encounter. Any interaction with the brand must reinforce the message. like iButterfly used mobile GPS and gyroscope functions to create an Strangely, a paradoxical shift has occurred wherein technology has augmented reality butterfly-catching experience while moving through enabled and encouraged immediate and frequent brand experiences, real space. The fashion label Bortsprungt’s fantasy-themed collections thereby forcing the physical place of interaction to evolve. “Here, we inspire surreal, immersive runway shows. Branding stretches across all can experience the manifestation, the messages and the emotions of building types. The silhouette of the Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art the brand in company with the products themselves, in unadulterated, defines its brand, standing as the lone building in an unspoiled forest unusual and unique styles.”25 Brandscapes convert a brand into an landscape.22 This text expresses the idea that the way in which a brand attraction and a destination. The goal of these spaces is to imprint a creates an innovative identity is through engaging and experiential distinct atmosphere onto a customer’s consciousness. spaces.

20 Precedent Analysis

22 (fig. 1) Suddenly at Burberry (Fig. 2) The dyanmic interior carries World Live in London... classic the burberry style...

BURBERRY WORLD LIVE LONDON, ENGLAND Burberry’s flagship store, or ‘Burberry World Live’ in London, is an exquisite 26 Gaudoin, Tina. “Burberry’s London Flagship Combines Craftsmanship and amalgam of historic buildings and contemporary technology, becoming Technology.” Architectural Digest. De- cember 1, 2012. Accessed December a showcase for the fashion brand’s constantly growing product line. The 29, 2014. http://www.architecturaldi- renovated 1920s storefront mirrors the path of the brand itself, when gest.com/shop/2012-12/burberry-lon- Mr. Christopher Bailey took over as CEO in 2001. Under his direction, don-flagship-store-regent-street-article. Burberry reoriented and expanded its brand, becoming more avant- 27 Ortiz, Christina. “Digitally Integrated Burberry Flagship Store Opens in garde while holding onto its rich heritage. Burberry became one of the London.” ReadWrite. September 14, first fashion companies to leverage technology, using social media, and 2012. Accessed December 29, 2014. http://readwrite.com/2012/09/14/ live-streaming runway shows, to create an overall online brand presence. digitally-integrated-burberry-flag- All these influenced the decision to create the Burberry London flagship ship-store-opens-in-london. store to mirror the online shopping experience. Bailey explains, “We wanted to totally merge the digital and the physical worlds.”26

The store uses a number of tactics to blur the lines between the traditional brick and mortar and the digital world. Highlights of customer (Fig. 3) while integrating the engagement with technology inside the renovated theater include a brand’s new online presence. series of full-length screens scattered around the store which can smoothly be switched to act as mirrors and a giant screen in the center of the atrium around which a stage can be erected in order to host in- store gigs. Both of these connect wirelessly to RFID chips allowing for media content and information to be triggered when placed near a mirror. The store becomes an entertainment center, creating electronically orchestrated disruptive digital takeovers. “At set times, thunder claps from all 500 store speakers, and on all 100 mirrors/screens, including those in ﬁtting rooms, appears an iconic London downpour. The rest of the time, models are shown walking from screen to screen, promoting the company’s most recent line.”27 Customers integrate themselves into design process in a store zone where they may customize their own trench coats. The completely original space is the perfect case study, combining technology and retail to enhance both, thereby strengthening the brand customer experience.

Fig. 1 Alexander, Ella. “Burberry 7.” Vogue.co.uk. 2012. Accessed March 23, 2015. http://cdni.condenast.co.uk/1280x1920/a_c/burberry7_v_13sep12_pr_b.jpg. Fig. 2 Alexander, Ella. “Burberry 10.” Vogue.co.uk. 2012. Accessed March 23, 2015. http://cdni.condenast.co.uk/1080x720/a_c/burberry10_v_13sep12_pr_b_1080x720.jpg. Fig. 3 Alexander, Ella. “Burberry 11.” Vogue.co.uk. 2012. Accessed March 23, 2015. http://cdni.condenast.co.uk/1080x720/a_c/burberry11_v_13sep12_pr_b_1080x720.jpg. 24 (Fig. 4) The tesla Design Center...

TESLA DESIGN CENTER STORES BY NURUN “Our technology is different, our car is different, and, as a result, our 28 Nurun. “A retail experience that reinvents the way cars are sold..” Tesla Motors 28 stores are intentionally different.” Tesla Motors partnered with Nurun retail kiosks. https://www.nurun.com/en/ case-studies/tesla-motors-retail-kiosks/ to develop a completely different kind of car-buying experience. Three (accessed February 27, 2014). principles were critical to the design of this new dealership space and 29 to Tesla’s business model as a whole. First of all, leveraging vertical Nurun. “A Retail Experience…” integration, the company manages and owns every stage of the product 30 Nurun. “A Retail Experience…” from concept to manufacturing and sales, and therefore wanted to 31 Nurun. “A Retail Experience…” emphasize the ownership of every stage of the process. Second, Tesla chooses to open stores in high trafﬁc retail space, shirking the dealership type and approaching the customer in a more casual, experiential environment. Finally, they enhanced their stores with digital technology, delivering informative experiences in small spaces. Remotely managed networks of interactive kiosks educate users on every part of the Tesla automobile. These principles are integrated directly into the each of the stores.29

The user experience in a Tesla retail space is divided into three distinct zones: learn, configure, and purchase. Interactive screens within the space use strong visuals to draw in potential customers. These screens address the most common electric car questions, with the intention to move them from visitors to general interest and finally to real consideration. The second screen is about configuring your own car. Choosing paints (Fig. 5) encourages involvement and finishes, by integrating the user into the design process, a person in the design process... can begin to imagine themselves owning a Tesla of their own. When the store is crowded, each of the stations serves two audiences, the direct user and the spectator who may be observing from afar, picking up the key visuals. Finally, with their questions answered and the car designed, visitors approach a desk at the back of the store to discuss options and design before completing the purchase.30 Tim Barber, VP and Executive Creative Director of Nurun, explains the significance of this level of technological integration and consumer engagement. “Our work with Tesla proved that technology can transform the retail experience. It can do the same for all retail businesses, regardless of industry...”31

(Fig. 6) and teaches users more about their new cars.

Fig. 4 Anthony, Mik. “Tesla Store Design Center.” Inside EVs. 2014. Accessed March 23, 2015. http://insideevs.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Tesla-store-design-center-3.jpg. Fig. 5 Webster, Jessica. “Design Your Tesla.” Horizon Display. 2013. Accessed March 23, 2015. http://web.horizondisplay.com/Portals/204021/images/tesla%20touch- screen-resized-600.jpg. Fig. 6 Super Uber. “Tesla X-Ray.” Super Uber. 2014. Accessed March 23, 2015. http://www.superuber.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/slide1.jpg. 26 MOMA PS1 YOUNG ARCHITECTS’ COMPETITION QUEENS, NEW YORK The MoMA PS1 Young Architects Program is entering its 15th edition. 32 “MoMA PS1: YAP: Hy-Fi by The Living.” MoMA PS1. January 1, 2014. Accessed Its goal is to provide young, talented architects the opportunity to December 29, 2014. http://momaps1. “design and present innovative projects, challenging each year’s winners org/yap/view/17. to develop creative designs for a temporary, outdoor installation at 33 “MoMA PS1...” MoMA PS1 that provides shade, seating, and water.”32 The winning entry is constructed, becoming the home to MoMA PS1’s summer Warm Up (Fig. 7) Moma ps1 is home to the annual music series. Over the years, the projects have grown more and more young architect’s competition. beautifully complex, with pieces like 2012’s Wendy, which consisted (Fig. 8) of a bright blue fabric pulled tight in scaffolding that actually worked to reduce air pollutants. 2014’s Hy-Fi uses bio-bricks to create a series of circular towers, using entirely recyclable materials and boasting nearly new and different, sustainable installations completely zero emissions.33 redefine the character of the puplic space.

(Fig. 9) (Fig. 10)

Fig. 7 Glenwood. “MoMA PS1 Party Wall Coda.” Glenwoodnyc.com. 2013. http://www.glenwoodnyc.com/manhattan-living/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/moma-ps1-warm-up- 2013-party-wall-coda.jpg. Fig. 8 Aaronson, Xavier. “Wendy MoMA PS1.” Babes at the Museum. 2012. Accessed March 23, 2015. http://www.babesatthemuseum.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/ Wendy_MoMAPS1_credit_XavierAaronson.jpg. Fig. 9 Work Architecture Company. “PF1 at MoMA PS1.” Pasco & Fold. 2011. Accessed March 23, 2015. https://putwordshere.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/pf1-work-architecture-company.jpg?w=200&h=300. Fig. 10 The Living. “Hy-Fi.” ArchDaily.com. 20. Accessed March 23, 2015. http://ad009cdnb.archdaily.net.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/53ad5fa8c07a- 8021be00003a_hy-fi-the-organic-mushroom-brick-tower-opens-at-moma-s-ps1-courtyard_53020118e8e44e5482000223_behind-hy-fi-the-entirely-organi-1000x709.jpg. 28 (fig. 11) the story is about reinvention.

THE STORY BY RACHEL SHECHTMAN NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK Founded by Rachel Shechtman, a former brand consultant for Kraft, 34 “Our Story.” This Is Story. July 15, 2013. Accessed December 29, 2014. http:// TOMS shoes, and Lincoln, STORY is designed as a matchmaker between thisisstory.com/our-story/.

brands and consumers. At Manhattan’s 10th Ave. retail corridor, in a 35 “Our Story.” 2000 square foot storefront, STORY, “is a retail concept that takes the point of view of a magazine, changes like a gallery and sells things like a store. That means every four to eight weeks, STORY completely reinvents itself – from merchandise and store design to floor plan and fixtures – to bring to light a new theme, trend, or issue.”34 The store has become know for creating specific narratives to influence the design and product: among them Color, Making Things, Art, Love Stories, Cool, and Made in America. “But if change is at the center of the STORY, so are innovative ideas about creating engaging experiences – from pasta making classes to talks from TED luminaries, inspiring brand partnerships with both (fig. 12) The store constantly changes, introducing a start-ups and Fortune 500 companies like HP and Pepsi and consistent new theme and accompanying product every month. creative collaboration.”35

Fig. 11 Wee Society. “Telling an Art Story.” Wee Society. 2014. Accessed March 23, 2015. http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0173/5090/files/wblog_032013_STORY_01. jpg?1113. Fig. 12 Hartman, Ethan. “The Cool Story.” BlinkinLabs.com. 2014. Accessed March 23, 2015. http://wordpress.blinkinlabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/retail.jpg. 30 CITY MUSEUM BY BOB CASSILY ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI “The illusion of danger is essential for any kind of adventure,” explains 36 Dougherty, Conor. “This Museum Exposes Kids to Thrills, Chills and Trial sculptor Bob Cassilly, designer of St. Louis’ unbelievably dynamic and Lawyers.” Wall Street Journal. May 1, 2010. Accessed December 29, 2014. interactive City Museum. The unique design is described as, “[Showing] http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB100014 none of the restraint or quiet typical of museums. A cross between a 240527023041593045751834637 playground and a theme park, it recycles St. Louis’ industrial past 21620890. into such attractions as slides made from assembly-line rollers. Just 37 “Bob Cassilly and Gail Cassilly - St. 36 Louis Business Journal.” St. Louis about everything can be touched or climbed…” Attractions like the Business Journal. January 30, 2000. underground cave system, slides that stretch past multiple stories, Accessed December 29, 2014. http:// www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/sto- the indoor “Skateless Park,” and the MonstroCity interactive sculpture ries/2000/01/31/focus16.html. redefine the potential of a museum. The intention of this kinetic hodgepodge of industrial equipment was to create a catalyst for a new kind of city. Executive Director Gail Cassilly hopes the architecture will lead to “a city freed from stuffiness, naysayers, endless meetings and too much red tape. A city activated by risk-taking, raw spirit, tolerant support and short cuts.”37

The museum is an unprecedented haven of experience-based (fig. 13) St. Louis’ City Museum is architecture. The sheer amount of physically engaging program creates a sculpture of pure experience. a completely different kind of space. The aesthetic and physical conﬂict created by the museum’s design is an excellent example of the potential of a purely action-based environment. Users climbing all over the (Fig. 15) sculptural surface complement the strange industrial amalgam’s exterior expression. The sheer level of experience and its complete integration into the architecture is a beautiful example of the potential of a new kind of destination retail.

(fig. 14) Nodes of action take the place of galleries, encouraging all users to engage and play

Fig. 13 Carlson, Christina. “Monstroscity at the City Museum.” Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. 2011. Accessed March 23, 2015. https://siuehist470.files.wordpress. com/2011/02/img_7092.jpg. Fig. 14 Nguyen, Dan. “Ball Pit.” Tumblr. 2012. http://danwin-files.s3.amazonaws.com/pics/blog/7178/6934007165_cc00b54148_b.jpg. Fig. 15 Nguyen, Dan. “10-Story Slide.” Tumblr. 2012. Accessed March 23, 2015. http://danwin-files.s3.amazonaws.com/pics/blog/7061/6787872370_9b187185ec_b.jpg. 32 Background These works illustrate the requirements of the next advancement in the Summary retail architecture type. The next big retail advancement must be something new and different, must be designed to grow and change in order to have longevity in the marketplace, and it must be endlessly reproducible.

Customers must be engaged on three scales: the hand or direct involvement in the design process; the human or interaction with other people; and the digital or the need to stay plugged in at all times.

In order to compete with online retailers, the customer experience must be a primary focus in retail architecture, but these experiences are most successful when they are integrated into the space’s architecture.

Technology integrated into the store is essential and should supplement the buying experience by allowing the customer to better visualize the purchase.

Successful branded environments engage all of the user’s senses and encourage an emotional response and relationship with a brand through a narrative experience.

These concepts are crucial to the thesis and the direction the ﬁnal design will take.

34 Proposition In order to keep traditional retail stores competitive with online sellers, they must begin to focus on the development of extraordinary customer experiences. The store must move beyond fulﬁlling a need into building a new kind of destination. Retail architecture can create a stronger relationship with its user by building a world inside their store; conveying its narrative while creating an emotional response and connection with the brand. The goal is to develop a new attitude about ofﬂine shopping. A trip will be as much about interacting with a store’s architecture and experiencing the brand story, as it will be about the purchase.

The project is a reboot of the retail type; creating a piece of experiential architecture with the potential to revolutionize the brick-and-mortar store. The project will highlight the potential of a space as a “branded world.” It will explore integration of technology into the retail store. It will ask how retail design can become experiential and how those experiences can be integrated into the architecture, making customers feel like they are part of the building and the brand. Finally, it will study the potential of a constantly changing, endlessly upgradable piece of shopping architecture. The physical retail store can be redeﬁned into a reﬂection of the brand’s narrative, engaging the user on tactile and emotional levels.

36 Client and Culture

38 (fig. 16) comic books and shopping have begun parallel shifts to the digital world.

COMIC BOOK CULTURE The project focuses on revitalizing the brick and mortar retail store to 38 Hutchinson, Michael. “How to Save the Comics Industry.” Fanzing Special remain relevant in the digital age, so its client and program must reﬂect Report. Accessed December 29, 2014. http://www.fanzing.com/mag/fanzing20/ and reinforce this concept. The client must have an interest in injecting specrept.shtml. new life its business and building type. The comic book industry is not 39 Hutchinson, “ How to Save the Comics unlike the retail industry in that a dramatic shift is taking place. Despite Industry.” the huge growth in popularity among live-action adaptations of comic 40 Cox, Stephanie. “Brief History of DC book stories, sales numbers that once meant deﬁnite cancellation for and Marvel Comics Companies.” Suite. titles now represent a brand’s best sellers. In addition, the increase in Accessed December 29, 2014. https:// suite.io/stephanie-cox/1335261. popularity of e-readers and digital comics as well as the introduction of same-day digital releases and online-exclusive issues has almost completely eliminated the tactile experiences of the comic book store and the book itself.38 While innovating the art form, this shift has negatively affected the unique culture that has developed in these microcosms of fandom. An experience-based redesign of the comic book store type can preserve and strengthen this culture.

Comic Books began as disposable reading material aimed at a general (Fig. 17) (Fig. 18) audience and available in all grocery stores as an alternate product for children to spend their dimes on. The United States’ ﬁrst comic book store opened in San Francisco in 1967 and quickly became a hub for the counter-culture-inspired Underground Comix ring in the bay area. Since then, shops have consistently been a place for social outcasts to converge, meet and bond.39 This stereotypical, and often hostile, atmosphere has kept shops somewhat prohibitive to new customers. In addition the refusal of owners to adapt to address comics’ new place in the pop culture canon and the move to digital formats, has led to a marked decrease in the number of examples of comic book architecture. It is also important to note that there is very rarely a new building developed for the type. It will be more often found in a strip mall, existing building, or adaptive reuse project.

Despite enormous popularity of comic book translations in other media, stores are failing and the unique culture that exists inside these microcasm of fandom is dying.

Fig. 16 Phillips, Brandy. “Batman iBookstore.” DC Comics. 2012. Accessed March 23, 2015. http://media.dcentertainment.com/sites/default/ﬁles/Screen%20Shot%20 2012-08-27%20at%2010%2049%2037%20PM.png. Fig. 17 Guth, Douglas J. “John and Carol’s Comics.” Fresh Water. 2013. Accessed March 23, 2015. http://www.freshwatercleveland.com/galleries/Features/2013/July_2013/ Fig. 18 Issue_130/Cleveland_Comics/john_and_carols_comics_010.jpg. Faraci, Devin. “Aquaman.” Badass Digest. 2015. http://cdn.badassdigest.com/uploads/images/46635/aquaman1__span.jpg. 40 (fig. 19) DC comics long history has led to a universe rich in continuity and legacy characters

THE HISTORY OF DC COMICS DC Comics began in 1935 under the name National Allied Publications. 40 Cox, Stephanie. “Brief History of DC and Marvel Comics Companies.” Suite. The new company launched its first issue of Detective Comics in 1937, Accessed December 29, 2014. https:// kicking off the longest continuously running series in comic book suite.io/stephanie-cox/1335261. history. Detective Comics became synonymous with their company and 41 “Marvel Vs DC.” Cracked.com. Accessed December 29, 2014. http://www. soon, after a series of acquisitions of smaller comic book production cracked.com/funny-6460-marvel-vs-dc/. companies, National Allied Publications adopted the moniker ‘DC,’ a 42 “DC Entertainment.” Landor Associates. shortened version of their most successful title. In 1969, DC comics Accessed December 29, 2014. http:// joined with Warner Bros and remains under the company still today. This landor.com/#!/work/case-studies/dc-entertainment/. allowed the company to begin introducing their characters into other media before their competitors. DC characters have raked in billions at the box office, considered largely responsible for kicking off the recent superhero film boom.40 (fig. 20) Heroes like Superman, Wonder Woman (fig. 21) dc’s new logo seeks to and Batman make up the brand’s flagship team represent the dynamism and duality DC comics has become one of the largest and most successful companies inherent in comic books. operating in American comic books, and produces material featuring many well-known characters, including Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. The fictional DC universe also features superhero teams such as the Justice League, as well as antagonists such as the Joker, Lex Luthor, and Catwoman. DC is separated from its competitors in its focus on legacy characters with more god-like abilities. DC’s universe is more cohesive, bringing heroes from all different backgrounds together in annual Crisis crossover events.41 Recently the entire universe underwent a reboot, restarting even their longest-running series back at number one. The brand redefined their best characters and concepts to make them more accessible and to open new story opportunities. The timing for a new and different DC comics flagship store could not be more appropriate in the wake of these changes across the entire brand. The DC Comics identity is best defined by a statement from Landor, the designers of the company’s dynamic new logo, “...The new visual expression is a living identity, ever-changing and adaptive to the superheroes and story lines...The [identity] represents more than the well-known characters and stories of the DC Entertainment brand. The dynamic visual graphic reveals a world of boundless storytelling—a world where the iconic, the optimistic, and the heroic coexist.”42

Fig. 19 Signalnoise. “DC Logo History.” Signalnoise. Accessed March 23, 2015. http://blog.signalnoise.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/i_dclogohistory.jpg. Fig. 20 Diaz, Eric. “JLA 15.” Nerdist. 2015. Accessed March 23, 2015. http://www.nerdist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/JLA15_PR.jpg. Fig. 21 “DC Comics New Logo.” DC Comics Wiki. 2012. Accessed March 23, 2015. http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130213193308/marvel_dc/images/1/12/New_DC_ logo.png. 42 Comic Books and Architecture

44 INTRODUCTION The choice of DC Comics as the client opens the door to exploration of 43 Lus Arana, Koldo. “Comics and Archi- tecture, Comics in Architecture A (not another question, “What is the relationship between comic books and So) Short Recount of the Interactions between Architecture and Graphic architecture?” MAS CONTEXT explains: Narrative [1].” MAS CONTEXT RSS. De- cember 13, 2013. Accessed December “...There is a deeper structural synergy between 29, 2014. architectural space and the comics page as a system for the articulation of time and space. In comics, time perception is intimately linked to space. Time is literally kept within the space of the panel and in the space between, while panels represent different spaces which add to make a supraspace in the context of the whole page... In the comics sequence, each consecutive moment does not disappear, nor substitutes for the next one; on the contrary, it stays as long as the page is not turned, cohabitating with the preceding and the next ones as part of the architecture of the page. Thus, it constitutes a topology of time that allows for a total visual encasing/perception of the time lapse that escapes the directionality of sequential-only narratives.”43 There is a strong relationship between comic books and architecture. Beyond simple graphic representation methods, there is so much overlap between the two art forms that it is vital to acknowledge the less conventional intersection points in a piece of comic book architecture. How can architecture convey the comic style, going deeper than a simple two-dimensional narrative and moving into the structural and conceptual elements of both?

The following precedents begin to explore the depth of these relationships. Archigram and the Instant City were pioneers in kinetic architecture and representation through sequential art. MOCCA straddles the line between architecture and comic books, using comic tropes and techniques to make decisions about form and skin. The This is Not a Love Song installation uses the energy that is inherent in comic book icons to create a real-world “POW!” The Dresden Museum of Military History’s dynamic and sarcastic addition creates a scene directly out of a comic. These works show the extent of the potential of a piece of comic book architecture, from purely two-dimensional representation to an unintentional built example of the reach of the art form.

46 ARCHIGRAM In May 1964, the fourth issue of Amazing Archigram was released. 44 Olóriz, Clara, and Klodo, Lus Arana. “Amazing Archigram!” MAS CONTEXT It became known as the beginning of the collective’s international RSS. December 13, 2013. Accessed December 29, 2014. http://www.mas- recognition. Clara Olóriz and Koldo Lus Arana explain the importance of context.com/issues/20-narrative-win- this volume of the magazine in the discussion of the relationship between ter-13/amazing-archigram/.

comic books and architecture. “With its bold use of comic book and general 45 Olóriz, Clara, and Klodo, Lus Arana. science ﬁction imagery, [it became] an inevitable presence in any recount “Amazing Archigram!” of the occasionally close encounters of architecture and the graphic 46 Olóriz, Clara and Klodo Lus Arana, narrative.”44 as well as the catalyst for the exploration of the potential “Amazing Archigram!” of crossing over the two mediums in the 60s and 70s. Additionally, it marked the beginning of Archigram’s love of the sequential style, which has appeared in nearly all of the representation of the collective’s design work.45 Taking inspiration from the style of German architects such as Carly Krayl and comic artist Jack Kirby, the team was merely trying to ﬁght against the norm. Peter Cook explained: “I think there is a certain wing of English thinking, English creative art, whatever you may call it, which enjoys being naughty. It gave us great pleasure that the borrowing from comics would upset the normal architect. ‘You should be correct, you should be politically correct in a certain way, you should draw in a certain way.’ We found that stultifying! And we used to say very often, ‘This will upset them!’”46 More than anything, this issue gave life to the conversation that architecture and comic books do have more in common than was being acknowledged. Storytelling has become vital to the success of a building and it follows that the best way to represent that story is through a hybrid of graphics and text. This concept is realized in one of Archigram’s most unusual and innovative projects.

Fig. 22 Archigram. “Amazing Archigram #4.” Domus. 2010. Accessed March 23, 2015. http://www.domusweb.it/content/dam/domusweb/en/architecture/2010/06/16/the- city-in-the-comics/big_255328_4753_135-01%20ARCHIGRAM_big.jpg.

48 INSTANT CITY In order to inject small towns with the amenities, opportunities, and 47 “Instant City.” Instant City (IC) - Archi- gram Archival Project. Accessed experiences of a thriving metropolis, Archigram designed The Instant December 29, 2014. http://archigram. City. They describe the notion of the project as, “a package that comes westminster.ac.uk/project.php?id=119. to a community, giving it a taste of the metropolitan dynamic – which is 48 “Instant City.” temporarily grafted on to the local centre – and whilst the community is still recovering from the shock, uses this catalyst as the ﬁrst stage of a national hook-up. A network of information-education-entertainment –‘play-and-know yourself’ facilities.”47 The implementation of the project follows a distinct sequence of events. A building in the chosen community is converted into an information collection center and relay-station. Then the aircraft carrying program elements such as audio-visual display systems, projection television, trailered units, pneumatic and lightweight structures and entertainments facilities, exhibits, gantries and electric lights arrive in the community. Locals and workers within the “City” begin hosting events, galleries, and programs. In addition, “major use is made of local fringe elements: fairs, festivals, markets, societies, with trailers, stalls, displays and personnel accumulating on an often ad hoc basis. The event of the Instant City might be a bringing together of events that would otherwise occur separately in the district.” Temporary enclosures are erected to house the elements of the “City.” When the installation’s tenure in the community is over it moves on to another nearby town, developing a relay and creating a networked city center, a city of communication.48

Fig. 23 Archigram. “Instant City.” Pintrest. 2013. Accessed March 23, 2015. https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/58/7a/0d/587a0d8ad97bc7aa6be- 627de3d5d7036.jpg.

50 (Fig. 24)

MOCCA Reid Nystrom and Alessandro Ortiz’s design for the Museum of Comic 49 Kim, Erika. “Reid Nystrom Alessan- dro Ortiz: The Museum of Comic and and Cartoon Art or MOCCA is a facility dedicated to the preservation of Cartoon.” DesignBoom Architecture Design Magazine. January 23, 2011. these graphic media. The Manhattan-based museum’s design sought to Accessed December 29, 2014. http:// be the embodiment of the comic art form in interior design and exterior www.designboom.com/architecture/ reid-nystrom-alessandro-ortiz-the-muse- expression. Layers of metal, concrete, and crosshatched and fritted glass um-of-comic-and-cartoon-art/. wrap the main volume of the building in an effort to mimic the most iconic version of comic book coloring, the ben-day dot pattern seen famously in the work of Roy Lichtenstein. The most signiﬁcant comic gesture is a punch and “POW!” through the front of the building, breaking the regular façade and creating a dynamic, asymmetrical atrium. Internally, “The layout of the facilities, which include a gallery, retail spaces, a library, a cafe, convention and conference centers, lecture halls, and a theatre, are organized to create a fully immersive environment that could be ‘read’ as one proceeds through the building, continually expanding and contracting the spatial experience to reveal a narrative.”49

The project is a beautiful example of the potential of the collaboration of comic books and architecture not just in design, but also in the way the project is presented. The designers use a unique screening system to convey the classic ben-day dot comic coloring style and use comic book action tropes to make formal decisions. The presentation of the project in the style of comic books, creating a narrative through individual panels and white borders using ben-day dots and a CMKY color scheme, reinforces the concept and program of the building. This design expresses the opportunity of a symbiotic relationship between comic books and architecture.

(Fig. 25)

Fig. 24 Kim, Erika. “Program.” Design Boom. 2011. Accessed March 23, 2015. http://www.designboom.com/cms/images/erica/----comic/comic10.jpg. 52 Fig. 25 Kim, Erika. “Comic03.” Design Boom. 2011. Accessed March 23, 2015. http://www.designboom.com/cms/images/erica/----comic/comic03.jpg (Fig. 26)

THIS IS NOT A LOVESONG Didier Faustino’s spikey red-orange wall reminiscent of a comic book 50 “Didier Faustino Adds “explosive Instal- lation” to André Bloc’s Villa.” Dezeen. explosion is a real-world manifestation of a comic book trope. The piece October 27, 2014. Accessed Decem- ber 29, 2014. http://www.dezeen. entitled “This Is Not a Lovesong” is comprised of a door and three walls com/2014/10/27/didier-faustino-instal- creating the entrance to concrete folly. The artist describes his work lations-andre-bloc-villa-france-this-is- as, “framing a space waiting to be inhabited.”50 The most shocking part not-a-love-song/. of the installation is not the stark contrast to its surroundings but the ability for a structure of painted brick and mortar, what should be an extremely static structure, to be compellingly dynamic. The amount of movement and tension created by this piece is astonishing. The idea that this purely two-dimensional comic book mainstay can be translated into three-dimensional reality and still convey the movement vividlyspeaks to the pervasiveness and power of comic book imagery in popular culture and the built environment.

(Fig. 27) (Fig. 28)

Fig. 26 Dezeen. “This is Not a Lovesong.” Dezeen. 2014. Accessed March 23, 2015. http://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/This-is-not-a-love-song-by-Didier-Fausti- no_dezeen_784_4.jpg. Fig. 27 Dezeen. “This is Not a Lovesong 2.” Dezeen. 2014. Accessed March 23, 2015. http://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/This-is-not-a-love-song-by-Didier-Fausti- no_dezeen_468_1.jpg Fig. 28 Dezeen. “This is Not a Lovesong 3.” Dezeen. 2014. Accessed March 23, 2015. http://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/This-is-not-a-love-song-by-Didier-Fausti- 54 no_dezeen_468_3.jpg DRESDEN MUSEUM OF MILITARY HISTORY “It was not my intention to preserve the museum’s facade and just add 51 “Dresden Museum of Military History by Daniel Libeskind.” Dezeen. Sep- an invisible extension in the back. I wanted to create a bold interruption, tember 29, 2011. Accessed Decem- ber 29, 2014. http://www.dezeen. a fundamental dislocation, to penetrate the historic arsenal and create com/2011/09/29/dresden-muse- a new experience. The architecture will engage the public in the deepest um-of-military-history-by-daniel-libes- issue of how organized violence and how military history and the fate of kind/. 51 (Fig. 29) the city are intertwined.” Daniel Libeskind thus explains the concept behind his sarcastic and unusual addition to the Dresden Museum of Military History. The five story-high wedge points East to the source of firebombs dropped during the war, creating dynamic views of the city skyline. The extremely graphic moments created by the stark (Fig. 30) (Fig. 31) juxtaposition in the building’s elevation show the playful, even humorous potential of architecture. This building is straight out of the comic book world, easily in the vein of Superman’s headquarters, the Fortress of Solitude, or the Justice League’s home base, the Hall of Justice. The stark differences between the volumes scream conflict and violence, a “Kapow!” breaking through the regular, classical façade. This is a comic book building.

Fig. 29 Zapartan, Teodora. “120.” Inspirationist. 2013. Accessed March 23, 2015.http://inspirationist.ro/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/120.jpg. Fig. 30 Zapartan, Teodora. “77.” Inspirationist. 2013. Accessed March 23, 2015. http://inspirationist.ro/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/77.jpg Fig. 31 Zapartan, Teodora. “49.” Inspirationist. 2013. Accessed March 23, 2015. http://inspirationist.ro/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/49.jpg. 56 CONCLUSION Comic books and architecture are both beautiful compositions made 52 Olóriz, Clara and Klodo Lus Arana, “Amazing Archigram!” up of a series of experiences. These experiences exist within as a kind of mosaic in the entire pice but they gain signiﬁcance when the user makes themself present within choreographed moments. Rooms in a building or panels on a page, these experiences deﬁne the narrative of the composition. But the truth is that, the importance of the comparison is not in the similarities but the potential of the collaboration and the ways in which they can each begin to break through the constraints of the other’s medium. Lus Arana Kolodo concludes: “In a moment when the crisis on the concept of the

profession that architecture has been avoiding for thirty years has finally struck us (by way of the general Economic Crisis), storytelling, satire, humor and cartooning are finding an expanding venue. And newer generations, bred in the communication era are eager to explore the products of architectural narrative, terrain vagues located in the periphery of a discipline that now, more than ever, faces the urgent need to reinvent itself. Because, in the end, architecture is fiction.”52

58 Site Analysis

60 The project will take place in New York City because of its status as a 53 Dailey, Jessica. “Chronicling Astor Place’s Evolution in 25 Historic Pho- perpetually evolving cultural hub and as an acknowledgement of the tos.” Curbed NY. October 24, 2012. Accessed December 29, 2014. http:// location of DC Comic’s original home ofﬁces. The main force behind ny.curbed.com/archives/2012/10/24/ site selection was seeking a place that already lent itself to becoming a chronicling_astor_places_evolution_in_25_ destination. The triangular site at Astor Place met these requirements: historic_photos.php 54 Gray, Christopher. “Streetscapes/Astor “Astor Place is arguably one of the most architecturally Place; It’s Only Two Blocks, but It’s Full of Literary History.” The New York Times. intriguing sections of the city. Morphosis’s geometric, March 1, 2003. Accessed Decem- shiny metallic building sits next to the Cooper Union’s ber 29, 2014. http://www.nytimes. com/2003/03/02/realestate/streets- classic brownstone home. Gwathmey Siegel’s wavy, blue- capes-astor-place-it-s-only-two-blocks- glass tower is just up Lafayette Street from the landmarked but-it-s-full-of-literary-history.html. Colonnade Row. The hulking and much-hated 51 Astor Place is rising over Tony Rosenthal’s Cube sculpture. If Astor Place seems like it’s always in ﬂux, that’s because it always has been.”53 Despite being one of the shortest streets in New York at only two blocks, Astor Place, was home to one of the most important events in the city’s history. In 1803, the area north of Houston Street was only just being developed. Fur trader John Jacob Astor, bought a large tract of land including what is now Astor Place and much of Lafayette Street. Astor Place was opened in 1836, and its angled intersection with Lafayette and Fourth Avenue created something of a ceremonial air, especially as it continued east to connect with another diagonal street, Stuyvesant Street.54 The Astor Place Opera House opened in 1847 on the narrow triangle 55 Gray, “Streetscapes/Astor Place...” of land at 13 Astor Place, which is currently home to a Starbucks. Two 56 Gray, “Streetscapes/Astor Place...” years later the area became the home of one of New York’s most severe civil disturbances. Fans of the actor Edwin Forrest became incensed by the casting of English actor William Macready as Macbeth and began throwing paving stones into the theater, starting a riot that was ended only after the National Guard was called in.55

Over the next 80 years, the area became populated by program new to the city. The American Bible Society’s Bible House office and printing building was constructed in 1853 and later turned into Cooper Union’s engineering building. That same year, the Astor Library, the city’s first (fig. 32) The area is famous for the astor place riot, incited by a british large public library, opened on Lafayette. The Astor Place Opera House actor’s casting as macbeth. was remodeled as Clinton Hall, which included space for the New York Mercantile Library, by 1870; the space would become the fourth largest library in the United States. Soon, the Bible House and the Mercantile Library had attracted publishers a number of famous publishers to the area, further cultivating the culture of storytelling in the area. By 1967, when Tony Rosenthal’s ‘’Alamo’’ sculpture was installed on the small traffic island at Astor and Eighth Street, “Astor Place was a gritty connector between the musty lofts along the Broadway corridor and the ramshackle East Village neighborhood beyond Third Avenue.”

In addition to the unusual form of the site lending itself to becoming a destination, the Astor Place area has a history that lends itself to a comic book program. The combination of the infamous riot, the nearby East Village’s history of grafﬁti, and the authors’ community in the area, create an ideal atmosphere for a DC Comics ﬂagship. After all what is a comic book besides a beautiful amalgam of graphic art, storytelling, and violence?

(fig. 33) The kinetic “Alamo” sculpture has become synonymous with astor place.

Fig. 32 University of Florida. “Astor Place Riot.” University of Florida. 2014. Accessed March 23, 2015. http://history.ufl.edu/files/2014/04/Astor-Place-picture.jpg. Fig. 33 Gobetz, Wally. “NYC - East Village: Astor Place - Alamo.” Flickr. 2007. Accessed March 23, 2015. https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/209/499391689_0d4ea2d259_b.jpg.

64 Design and Experience Narrative

66 A comic book’s development happens in three stages: pencils, inks and color. DESIGN INTRODUCTION The concept of the DC Experience store is not just developing the retail store into a branded, experience-based destination, it is about building a three-dimensional world from a two-dimensional medium. How can the experience of reading a comic book translate into a piece of architecture? Each part of the design reflects the experiential goals of the thesis statement while creating a three dimensional piece of sequential art. Beginning with the building’s exterior expression which is broken into three zones. The first is an entry sequence defined by an ever-changing installation. Next is a rectilinear, L-shaped volume made up of a series of extruded boxes. This volume skin, based on an abstraction of comic panels on a page, is adorned with screens harkening to the classic ben-day dot style of comic book coloring and projected images of users enjoying the experiential nodes lining the building’s circulation path. Finally, a curving volume, defined by the building’s circulation system uses a series of Led lights to show users’ path through the space and harken to the idea of movement indicated by lines inside a comic book. This volume also begins to create conflict in the space, breaking through the rectilinear façade and culminating in a “POW!” style atrium. These three pieces of architecture combine to create an experiential destination and physical manifestation of the comic book world.

These stages are represented in the building’s layered skin. A comic book page with the panels pushed and pulled at varying depths, letting users become part of the book that is the store.

Fig. 34 Lee, Jim. “Batman #2 Sketch.” Facebook.com. 2012. Accessed March 23, 2015. https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/v/t1.0-9/p206x- 206/166067_10150911882252855_1809718964_n.jpg?oh=a7bfc250cdeabc0b7a5eadf4ee0e104c&oe=55AC4219&__gda__=1437362117_bbba0f25a32087711f- 8b821ab203d322. Fig. 35 Lee, Jim. “Batman #2 Inks by Buzz.” Facebook.com. 2012. Accessed March 23, 2015. https://scontent-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0- 9/479718_10150911882667855_1077298248_n.jpg?oh=93780d03a3c1a748032d1261bbea6e11&oe=55BE985C. Fig. 36 Lee, Jim. “Batman #2 Color by Cat Staggs.” Facebook.com. 2012. Accessed March 23, 2015. https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/v/t1.0- 9/539940_10150911893302855_265043301_n.jpg?oh=5d5f567a713987660e6bca50453eb187&oe=557F4F49&__gda__=1433574627_af2ea1373a0df6fed- 97fac2269d6e539. 68 THESIS INTO DESIGN Interior and speciﬁc experience decisions are made based on the issues that arise through the precedent and literature analysis. q 5IF OFYU CJH SFUBJM BEWBODFNFOU NVTU CF TPNFUIJOH OFX BOE different, must be designed to grow and change in order to have longevity in the market pace, and it must be endlessly reproducible.

The store is designed to grow and change to suit new concepts represented inside the comic books themselves. Although not, directly reproducible, the concept of the clear, narrative experience through the building culminating in a physical, superhero-esque moment. q $VTUPNFST NVTU CF FOHBHFE PO UISFF TDBMFT UIF IBOE EJSFDU involvement in the design process, the human; interaction with other people, and the digital; the need to stay plugged in at all times.

Customers are involved in the design process, using real-time feedback to gage the experiences inside the store, allowing ﬁxture and experiences to be upgraded and changed out accordingly. In addition, because customers are followed through the store and have their photos taken at different moments of experience, they become a very real part of the product. q *OPSEFSUPDPNCBUPOMJOFSFUBJMFST DVTUPNFSFYQFSJFODFNVTUCF a primary focus in retail architecture, but these experiences are most successful when they are integrated into the space’s architecture.

Experiences are stretched throughout the building narrative allowing users to have their photos taken at experience stations and have them projected onto the building skin. In addition, translucent LED screens track circulation of the users on the building’s exterior. q 5FDIOPMPHZ JOUFHSBUFE JOUP UIF TUPSF TIPVME TVQQMFNFOU UIF buying experience by allowing the customer to better visualize the purchase.

Elements like a magic mirror large-scale comic preview station, digital library, and augmented reality screens and cameras integrate technology into customer experiences inside the building and it’s skin. q 4VDDFTTGVMCSBOEFEFOWJSPONFOUTFOHBHFBMMPGUIFVTFSnTTFOTFT and encourage an emotional response and relationship with a brand through a narrative experience.

The way the architecture encourages movement through the building culminating in a ﬂying leap engages the user’s emotionally and physically creating dynamic, unexpected experiences.

70 artist’s apartment/ worspace

PROGRAM EXPERIENCE WALK-THROUGH museum From the Alamo Cube in Astor place, the user looks up to see the dynamic façade. Rectangles resembling the panels on a comic book page are pushed and pulled at varying depths skinned with different levels of transparency. Candid action shots of strangers are projected

Museum onto the skin alongside heroes the likes of Superman and Wonder Woman. Screens mirror the classic Ben-Day comic book coloring style. A few curvilinear objects break through the regular façade revealing the three differnt skin layers. Lines move across this sculptural element at irregular speeds. On the other side of the building, the source of these Museum lines appears. The push and pull of the comic book façade is juxtaposed against a curving, stacked, atrium surrounded by circulation. It becomes clear that the users deﬁne the speed and frequency of the lines.

Experience Space/ viewing platform/ storage The retail experience begins in the entry sequence. A long ramp down through an ever-changing installation space creates the transition between the real world and the one created inside the building and experience space/ dictates the theme of the store during that installation’s tenure. . Once checkout/ storage through the installation, the user enters into a large atrium lobby. The lobby is wrapped in a curving ramp that is screened from the atrium with a grid of comic book covers that double as digital display case for that Cosplay month’s books. Inside this lobby, visitors are encouraged to download and check in on the DC Experience Store phone app in order to have their experience tracked and recorded.

reading room

game area

augmented reality store

check-in/ lobby

72 check in! start your hero’s journey! shop without baggage!

The user begins walking up the ramp; slowing and speeding up to conﬁrm that the lines on the outside of the building are truly responsive to his

choose your uniform! movements. He stops on the ramp to check out the latest Teen Titans. He taps on the book and the cover expands on the large touchscreen curtain wall. He scrolls through a few page preview and notes his purchase in his app and moves to the ﬁrst level.

He keeps moving through the first retail floor. Stopping to experience augmented reality screens, and the shopping without baggage concepts. He tries out a few different QR Cards to see new action figures and busts on sale. The floor plate turns into a narrow path and he is led up a large learn to fly! ramp hidden from the atrium by a series of opaque curtain wall screens. The landings feature a series of gaming tables and monitors, enouraging training on the user’s hero’s journey. As he moves farther up the ramp, he notices that the prescribed path diverges away from the atrium and to a puncture in the rectangular skin. He chooses his hero’s costume on the next level. At each stop he is photographed enjoying a new retail experience. He follows up two flights of stairs as lines following the path of the stair increase in speed, encouraging the user to keep up. Lines on the floor lead to the edge of a broken floor plate. It’s clear that something has taken off here, busting through the plates above and creating a physical POW! Atrium. Below, he sees a foam pit. He takes a few steps back and sprints forward, ready to fly. He lands in the foam pit. Looking up as he lands, he sees the familiar lines explode upward through the dynamic atrium.

The user climbs out of the foam pit and into the checkout area. His chosen purchases are waiting at the register, having tracked his in- app selections before he made his leap. He pays and steps into a less controlled space. The DC Comics Museum displays art and artifacts in in permanent collection as well as a temporary show dictated by the building’s installation and theme. These levels also provide access the roof deck of the circulation atrium. An exterior theater/lecture space is created and serviced by a large screen that follows the style of comic book-style building skin.

He finishes his journey from the top of the “POW!” atrium surveying his story from it’s beginning. He turns to see himself flying through the layered rectilinear skin. He smiles, having finally learned to fly.

74 CONCLUSION The architecture seeks to create an escape in the real world for the comic book fan. To borrow a comic book trope, the DC Comics Experience Store is a pocket universe wherein the rules of our reality don’t apply. A place where pretending to be a superhero is encouraged, where you can build your team of super friends, undergo special training for your new powers, and, finally, learn to fly. The store conveys the dynamism and playfulness of a comic book in a a three dimensional way. The design is as much a love letter to lifelong fans as it is a case study in experiential retail design. After all, who didn’t grow up wanting to fly like Superman, run like the Flash, or kick ass like Wonder Woman?

76 Bibliography

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