PROJECT INFO
Size tbc
Completion date tbc
Client Surrey MAC Cosmetics
Designer/architect X+Living
In the visual upgrade of MAC Cosmetics’ Deji Plaza store in Nanjing, China, Li Xiang, founder and chief designer of X+Living, chose ‘musical art’ as the design motif for the commercial space. As MAC is an acronym for Make-Up, Art, Cosmetic, this echoed the artistic nature inherent in the brand’s DNA.
This choice was based on the idea that music, as a universal language, ‘possesses aesthetic value and perceptual methods that are universally appealing’.
The store appears as if carved out from the deconstructed elements of a piano, while integrating classic bullet lipstick and monochromatic eyeshadow products into the design.
At the entrance, the form of a grand piano is the signature display, with MAC Cosmetics’ black tube lipsticks performing the role of the black keys on the white platforms.
Meanwhile, the integrated make-up stations located at the four corners, modelled after the product packaging, incorporate openable mirrored cabinets and pull-out make-up chairs.
The flexible design enables variable configurations, allowing the space to switch between artistic display and commercial activities, while the lighting system shifts through a spectrum of colors, creating a visually rhythmic dynamic.
This is the first time Li has engaged with a beauty brand.
‘When I encountered the MAC Cosmetics, I felt a very natural sense of identification,’ says Li.
‘The “limitless self-expression” that MAC Cosmetics advocates is actually in line with my design philosophy. Whether it is design or a beauty brand like MAC Cosmetics, we are not creating some kind of “standardised beauty”. Instead, we are trying to convey an attitude, a philosophy, and a right to self-identity and free choice. This very notion is the “power of beauty” that I understand and have always believed in.’
