Designing spaces intended for the exhibition of furniture pieces with high structural, ergonomic, artistic, and historical complexity requires a distinct design approach, as the goal is to showcase the product while persuading the viewer-client to purchase it. In Brazil, prime examples such as the Forma store (1987), Micasa (2004), Casa Matriz (2004), Micasa Volume B (2007), Ouvidor (2013), Dpot (2016), Líder (2016), and Micasa Volume C (2017) stand out for masterfully combining these principles. Generally speaking, they provide the “white box” required as a backdrop—akin to works of art within the neutrality of exhibition spaces—while arranging the pieces to evoke the desire to buy.
The critical question hanging over this theme, however, is how to secure such spatial potential, given that we are dealing with two conditions typically deployed in distinct ways. In a flagship store of any retail segment, for instance, visual and spatial elements are shaped to psychologically trigger a set of sensations, encouraging the customer to buy. Conversely, in design-focused furniture showrooms with a strong artistic and historical heritage, interior architectural elements with a dominant formal presence can easily overshadow the pieces on display. Take the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao as a case study: its stunning architecture within the urban fabric has achieved greater notoriety than the museum's contents themselves. Tourists and locals alike visit the space to experience the building as an object in space rather than for the objects exhibited within.
From a museographical perspective, and given the parallels between the design principles of museums and the conditions required for commercial showrooms, it becomes clear that in the retail architectural model discussed here, the object is positioned to intensify the object-viewer-architecture relationship, rather than diminish it.
