Molo announced that Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche in Paris has a beautiful, new long-term installation created with white textile softblocks.
The installation, which is appears on the second floor of the renowned Parisian department store, has transformed the retail space into a soft and elegant backdrop for a selection of home wares. Lending a slight dreamlike quality to the space, stacked softblocks, illuminated internally with warm white LED, create multiple intimate spaces within the otherwise open floor plan. Wandering in and out of these spaces, customers can find time to pause and consider the products for sale in spaces that limit distraction and encourage engagement.
Constructed in the 19th and early 20th century, Le Bon Marché holds claim to being one of the first to introduce the concept of the department store, and ushered in ideas, such as home delivery, that have become hallmarks of contemporary shopping. Centred upon an exquisite three story, light filled atrium, which is connected by the store’s iconic escalator, Le Bon Marché’s beautiful interior houses luxury boutiques, high-end fashion brands, and furniture.
The soft feeling of the installation at Le Bon Marché is accentuated by the gentle organic curves created with the softblocks. The flexible honeycomb structure of softwall + softblock is predisposed to smooth, organic forms. These curved forms also benefit the spaces acoustically, amplifying softwall + softblocks exceptional acoustic absorption and completing the sense of calm in the installation.
While softblock is ideal for creating flexible environments, where a space’s usage is benefited by adaptability, its core character is also ideal for permanent and semi-permanent installation. softwall + softblock are completely self-supporting and require no tools and no hardware to set up. Each softwall + softblock is also variable in length – beginning in a 2” (4.5cm) compressed form and expanding up to 15’ (4.5m) – allowing the room dividers to be formed to perfectly fit into any interior.
softwall + softblock is a patented, modular partition system made from sustainable materials that allows users to creatively make and remake space. It is at the core of molo’s family of flexible paper furniture, the soft collection, which includes expandable paper chairs and paper benches, energy-efficient LED lighting, and extendable paper partitions and room dividers – all designed from 2003 by Stephanie Forsythe + Todd MacAllen.
