designboom · Creativity & design

Loewe's Paris Runway: A Circular Arena Design

For its Spring Summer 2027 show, Loewe commissioned Casper Mueller Kneer Architects to design a unique runway space within a temporary structure at Paris' Château de Vincennes.

The design features a circular, two-story arena with guests seated on the ground floor and an upper balcony, allowing for multiple viewing heights and perspectives. Models navigate a runway that winds between angular benches on the ground level.

The architecture draws inspiration from historic gathering spaces like Padua's Anatomical Theatre and London's Globe Theatre, as well as Detroit's industrial gasometers, emphasizing exposed framework and a diagrammatic structure.

This arena design compresses the traditional runway length, with zigzagging benches creating a more intimate viewing experience. Proximity and varied sightlines are central to the concept, making spectators a visible part of the event.

The material palette is deliberately spare, utilizing white scaffolding and translucent fabric to create an enclosure where the structure remains legible. This approach highlights the architecture's role in shaping the audience's encounter with the collection.

The design intentionally complicates the typical frontal view of a runway, integrating other spectators into the visual field and emphasizing the shared activity of watching. The entire room is constructed around this act of observation.

AI-samenvatting op basis van de bron.