Miami

Tile mural fronts Cult Gaia Miami boutique by Sugarhouse


A hand-painted tile mural covers the front of this Miami Design District boutique designed by New York studio Sugarhouse Design and Architecture for fashion brand Cult Gaia.

Sugarhouse Design and Architecture designers Jess and Jonathan Nahon followed up their New York City store for Cult Gaia founder Jasmin Larian Hekmat with a flagship in Miami intended to align with the brand and the location.

The gabled front of the Cult Gaia boutique in Miami is covered in a hand-painted tile mural

The duo “sought inspiration from temple architecture, Larian Hekmat’s Persian heritage and iconic historical archetypes” for the 1,502-square-foot (140-square-metre) retail space, and also modelled the building on local casitas.

To cover the gabled front facade, Design and Architecture commissioned artist Michael Chandler to create a mural using ceramic tiles.

Blue tree of life mural painted across a tiled facade, viewed from an angle
The mural by artist Michael Chandler is titled Tree of Life and references Henri Rousseau’s painting The Dream

The resulting 1,800-piece Tree of Life mural is based on French post-impressionist artist Henri Rousseau’s painting The Dream.

“The hand-painted ceramic mural depicts a silhouetted tree with its branches extending across the storefront, featuring stylised vegetation, birds and flower-crowned nymphs,” said Sugarhouse Design and Architecture.

Concrete sculpture in the centre of a neutral-toned boutique
In the centre of the store’s first space is a concrete sculpture by Angela Larian

Painted in blue “lapis lazuli” hues, similar to those that decorate Persian mosques, the artwork references everything from Indian textiles to botanical illustrations.

A trio of arched openings in the facade contain windows and a larger, recessed entryway that holds wood-framed glass doors and aligns with the store’s central axis.

12-foot sculpture of the Greek goddess Gaia standing below an oculus
The 12-foot sculpture of the Greek goddess Gaia stands below an oculus

The first in a series of interiors spaces is an open room decorated in creamy Bianco Avorio limestone and Bianco Santa Caterina travertine.

Unlacquered brass rods, designed to mimic Cult Gaia’s jewellery, drop from behind ceiling coves to display garments and custom amorphous mirrors by New Vernacular Studio hang on the walls.

On both sides of the central axis, sandstone blocks are stacked into vertical checkerboard grids that allows accessories to be displayed in the gaps.

These partitions enclose the fitting rooms, which can be illuminated from within so that light glows through a translucent membrane and the grid holes.

“Designed to reference rock-cut cave temples, the structures provide privacy while also allowing merchandise to be displayed within their illuminated niches,” said the team.

A banyan tree growing from a pale-green sofa
In the second space is a banyan tree that grows from a pale-green sofa

A second space identical to the first is reached past the threshold created by the fitting rooms, and a bar is hidden beyond a brass door on the far wall.

Over each of the two main rooms presides a domed ceiling and a seven-foot-wide oculus, based on the roof of the Pantheon in Rome.

Sofa and tree in front of a plaster wall and brass clothing rails
Brass rods drop from behind ceiling coves to display garments and custom amorphous mirrors hang on the wall

Below the first is a 12-foot-tall concrete sculpture of the Greek goddess Gaia – after whom the brand is named – by Larian Hekmat’s mother, artist Angela Larian.

“An elongated, Giacometti-like female nude that soars toward the heavens, the work is a foil to the nymphs from the facade and her angularity is intentional: like the brand, this is a fully composed, confident, and in control Gaia,” said the team.

Banyan tree growing up through a large hole in a boutique's ceiling
The banyan tree also sits below a domed ceiling and oculus, which are based on the roof of the Pantheon in Rome

In the second room, a large banyan tree reminiscent of the facade decoration is planted within a serpentine sofa designed by Brandi Howe.

“Like the sacred tree from Buddhism, it invites visitors to sit and achieve their own awakening within this temple of fashion,” the team added.

Sandstone blocks stacked around the fitting rooms and glow from behind
Sandstone blocks are stacked around the fitting rooms, which glow from within, and are used to display accessories

Miami Design District is home to a host of luxury fashion brands, which have each taken a unique approach to designing their stores both inside and out.

Brazilian brand PatBo recently opened a flagship in the neighbourhood with a pink slatted facade by BoND, while Kengo Kuma and Associates is set to create a sculptural block of buildings nearby that will also serve as retail locations.

The photography is by Kris Tamburello.



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