Herzog & de Meuron adds giant steel awning to Miu Miu store in Aoyama
Herzog & de Meuron has completed work on an "understated" box-like shop for fashion brand Miu Miu in Tokyo's Aoyama district – opposite the flagship store it created for Prada almost 15 years ago (+ slideshow).
![Miu Miu Aoyama Tokyo by Herzog and de Meuron](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/03/Miu-Miu-Aoyama-Tokyo-by-Herzog-and-de-Meuron_dezeen_468_2.jpg)
The 720-metre-square building designed by the Swiss architects for Miu Miu occupies a site on Miyuki Street, close to Omotesando Street, which is home to a string of luxury fashion stores designed by renowned architects.
Miu Miu is led by Italian designer Miuccia Prada, who commissioned Herzog & de Meuron to create their seminal Tokyo Prada store on the other side of the same road in 2000.
![Miu Miu Aoyama Tokyo by Herzog and de Meuron](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/03/Miu-Miu-Aoyama-Tokyo-by-Herzog-and-de-Meuron_dezeen_468_1.jpg)
As well as wanting to create a building that would contrast with the crystalline glass structure of the Prada store, Herzog & de Meuron's design had to comply with zoning regulations that limited the height of the building.
![Miu Miu Aoyama Tokyo by Herzog and de Meuron](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/03/Miu-Miu-Aoyama-Tokyo-by-Herzog-and-de-Meuron_dezeen_468_0.jpg)
"Contrary to expectations for a site that is home to so many luxury brands, Miyuki Street in Aoyama Tokyo is not particularly beautiful or elegant," said the architects. "The architecture is heterogeneous – a hodgepodge of freestanding buildings of different heights and shapes, with neither historical tradition nor common standards."
![Miu Miu Aoyama Tokyo by Herzog and de Meuron](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/03/Miu-Miu-Aoyama-Tokyo-by-Herzog-and-de-Meuron_dezeen_468_3.jpg)
The two-storey opaque structure includes a steel facade that angles away from the glass glazing on the front of the building "as if the volume had been sliced open with a big knife".
![Miu Miu Aoyama Tokyo by Herzog and de Meuron](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/03/Miu-Miu-Aoyama-Tokyo-by-Herzog-and-de-Meuron_dezeen_468_4.jpg)
This acts as a giant metal awning, shading the interior while offering passers-by a glimpse inside. The other side of the sharp-edged steel sheeting is clad with textured copper that curves at the corners.
![Miu Miu Aoyama Tokyo by Herzog and de Meuron](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/03/Miu-Miu-Aoyama-Tokyo-by-Herzog-and-de-Meuron_dezeen_468_6.jpg)
Shoppers enter beneath the steel canopy into the lower level of the shop, which the architects intended to look more like a "spacious and comfortable home" than a retail space.
![Miu Miu Aoyama Tokyo by Herzog and de Meuron](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/03/Miu-Miu-Aoyama-Tokyo-by-Herzog-and-de-Meuron_dezeen_468_7.jpg)
"We used the following thoughts to channel our ideas: more like a home than a department store, more hidden than open, more understated than extravagant, more opaque than transparent," said Herzog & de Meuron.
![Miu Miu Aoyama Tokyo by Herzog and de Meuron](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/03/Miu-Miu-Aoyama-Tokyo-by-Herzog-and-de-Meuron_dezeen_468_10.jpg)
Another angled copper wall is used on the opposite side of the store, extending the full height of the building and providing a backdrop for displayed accessories.
![Miu Miu Aoyama Tokyo by Herzog and de Meuron](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/03/Miu-Miu-Aoyama-Tokyo-by-Herzog-and-de-Meuron_dezeen_468_8.jpg)
A single-flight staircase orientated parallel to the main facade features glass banisters topped with copper rails.
Other internal walls are covered with a brocade fabric produced in subtly different shades of green.
![Miu Miu Aoyama Tokyo by Herzog and de Meuron](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/03/Miu-Miu-Aoyama-Tokyo-by-Herzog-and-de-Meuron_dezeen_468_5.jpg)
The pattern is also used to upholster the rounded seats and stools found around the interior, in both green and a contrasting bright red hue that covers shelves.
Branded with Miuccia Prada's nickname, Miu Miu was set up in 1993 as a platform for the fashion designer's explorations beyond her Prada line.
![Miu Miu Aoyama Tokyo by Herzog and de Meuron](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/03/Miu-Miu-Aoyama-Tokyo-by-Herzog-and-de-Meuron_dezeen_468_9.jpg)
Herzog & de Meuron completed the all-glass Prada Aoyama store 12 years ago and the building has since become a popular tourist destination.
"At that time, we were interested in counteracting the situation – on one hand, by placing a small plaza to the side of the building, and on the other, by making the structure completely see-through so that one can see into the interior from all sides and can also look out from inside at specifically targeted views of the city," said the architects.
![Miu Miu Aoyama Tokyo by Herzog and de Meuron](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/03/Miu-Miu-Aoyama-Tokyo-by-Herzog-and-de-Meuron_dezeen_468_11.jpg)
The Prada group was keen to place the new Miu Miu store in the same vicinity, close to other high-profile fashion-architecture collaborations that include buildings for Dior by SANAA, Coach by OMA, and Tod's by Toyo Ito.