ABSTRACT
La Maison Unique design was developed for Longchamp, a French company which produces fine leather goods, as a new flagship store in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan. Though the entire renovation of an existing 1930s building totaled over 9000 sq. ft., this excerpt is focused on one component, a 60– (20m) atrium entry lobby. The installation contains a flowing staircase and display area constructed of 1.25" hot rolled steel. The geometry of the stair was developed by locating each of the treads and landings in a configuration providing enough space to create the radii necessary for the steel to "flow" from tread to tread. Each profile moves from one tread above to one below, and is composed of two quarter-circle shapes, one convex and one concave. The forms each match one another along a line of symmetry and the tread-to-tread distance is consistent.
