Occupying a corner spot within Miami’s glittering Design District, where designer boutiques clamour for shopper’s attention, a new Prada concept store is making its presence known.
From the outside, its exterior evokes the precision and rectilinear lines of 1960s design thanks to a series of dense white vertical blades that are clustered over its large windows, providing shade from Miami’s intense sun while also revealing or concealing the interior.
Inside, the collections – including men’s and women’s clothing, handbags, accessories and footwear – are spread over two generous floors connected by a spectacular timber staircase. Here, the Milanese label respectfully nods to the city’s architecture with numerous references to art deco and Latin America, but reinterpreted through the eyes of Prada.
Walls are clad in Prada green bas-relief panels featuring various 3D floral designs taken from the label’s collection prints. The result is an interior that is distinctly Prada, while also recalling the ‘tropical deco’ sugary pastel-painted buildings of old Miami Beach.
Presidential sofa, by Jorge Zalszupin, 1970
Black and white art deco marble chequered tiles inspired by the historic Prada store in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan line the floor in a pleasing contrast to the soft green walls. Throughout the 650 sq m space, small areas of seating, rosewood screens and valet stands provide a touch of the domestic, creating comfortable areas for shoppers to stop and rest.
Furnishings are made using Brazilian rosewood, jacaranda and cabreuva, and include Brazilian mid-century pieces by the likes of Portuguese-born interior designer Joaquim Tenreiro – widely regarded as the father of modern Brazilian design – Carlo Hauner and Martin Eisler, Jorge Zalszupin, José Zanine Caldas, and Sérgio Rodrigues. The vertical slats of rosewood that are used to create the tables, screens and benches subtly echo the vertical slats used across the building’s ceilings and exterior.
Following on from the launch of the Prada365 initiative at the beginning of the year – a multi-channel realignment of the label’s direction – the domestically styled concept store marks a move away from more formal layouts and sets out a distinctive template for what we can expect to see from Prada’s approach to retail design in the future.
More from Design Miami 2017
Art, literature and Instagram collide at the Nautilus
Studio Drift strike out, first to the mountains and then to the Miami skyline
ICA Miami’s new home has all the right angles
The two-storey boutique features walls with Prada green bas-relief panels and art deco chequered marble tiles.
Room divider, by Joaquim Tenreiro, 1950s
The store has been populated with mid-century pieces by Joaquim Tenreiro, Carlo Hauner and Martin Eisler, Jorge Zalszupin, José Zanine Caldas, and Sérgio Rodrigues.
Single day bed, by Joaquim Tenreiro, 1950s
Armchair, by José Zanine Caldas, 1960
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Prada website. Follow our live report from Design Miami 2017
ADDRESS
Prada
152 NE 41st Street
Miami
-
‘I wanted to create a sanctuary’ – discover a nature-conscious take on Balinese architectureUmah Tsuki by Colvin Haven is an idyllic Balinese family home rooted in the island's crafts culture
-
‘Concrete Dreams’: rethinking Newcastle’s brutalist pastA new project and exhibition at the Farrell Centre in Newcastle revisits the radical urban ideas that changed Tyneside in the 1960s and 1970s
-
Mexican designers show their metal at Gallery Collectional, Dubai‘Unearthing’ at Dubai’s Gallery Collectional sees Ewe Studio designers Manu Bañó and Héctor Esrawe celebrate Mexican craftsmanship with contemporary forms
-
Prada Frames 2023: Milan programme announcedProgramme announced for Prada Frames 2023 at Milan Design Week, the annual symposium curated by Formafantasma at Luigi Caccia Dominioni's Teatro Filodrammatici from 17 to 19 April
-
Prada and Formafantasma announce Milan Design Week symposiumCurated by Formafantasma and at Milan’s National Braidense Library from 6 – 8 June 2022, Prada Frames is a free event exploring the relationship between the natural environment and design
-
Campana Brothers look back on 35 years of revolutionary designOn view at modernist Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, ‘Campana Brothers – 35 Revolutions’ is a retrospective of the Brazilian designers’ impactful oeuvre
-
Etel celebrates its contemporary female forcesBrazilian brand Etel puts its female contemporary designers at the forefront for its newest venture, Women and Design, kicking off with a debut collection by Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola
-
Retracing the modernist steps of Lina Bo Bardi and Studio d’Arte Palma -
Loewe showcases eclectic art collection at new Mayfair flagship -
The rustic allure of Brazil modern design gets a new French audience -
The legend of the Ritz: Artcurial Paris announces spring auction curated by Vincent Darré
