Aether Pops Up in New York City

Merchandise is displayed in a mobile-style format.

1 MIN READ
The display boxes are illuminated with an LED tapelight detail. Narrow beam LED track fixtures add an extra punch of light.

Jake Breinholt

The display boxes are illuminated with an LED tapelight detail. Narrow beam LED track fixtures add an extra punch of light.

For the design of its first East Coast retail location, activeware company Aether Apparel teamed with Paris designer Thierry Gaugain and New York City lighting firm Lumen Architecture to create a whimsical, industrial chic shopping experience in New York’s Soho neighborhood. Playing off the company’s introduction to the city two years prior, when it opened a pop-up shop in a converted Airstream trailer, the new brick-and-mortar store riffs on the mobile experience displaying merchandise in 36 wooden crates, each lit by an LED tapelight detail.

Details
Project: Aether SoHo, New York
Client: Aether Apparel, New York
Architect: Rise Projects, New York
Lighting Designer: Lumen Architecture, New York
Additional Designers: Thierry Gaugin
Project Size: 2,405 square feet
Project Cost: $500,000
Lighting Cost: $107,503(installation, equipment, and controls)
Watts per Square Foot: 1.4

Lighting Manufacturers
Amerlux: 15W trackhead and global track with current limiters
Foscarini: LED PendantlLamp at checkout area
Hafele: LED tape in merchandise display crates

About the Author

Elizabeth Donoff

Elizabeth Donoff is Editor-at-Large of Architectural Lighting (AL). She served as Editor-in-Chief from 2006 to 2017. She joined the editorial team in 2003 and is a leading voice in the lighting community speaking at industry events such as Lightfair and the International Association of Lighting Designers Annual Enlighten Conference, and has twice served as a judge for the Illuminating Engineering Society New York City Section’s (IESNYC) Lumen Award program. In 2009, she received the Brilliance Award from the IESNYC for dedicated service and contribution to the New York City lighting community. Over the past 11 years, under her editorial direction, Architectural Lighting has received a number of prestigious B2B journalism awards. In 2017, Architectural Lighting was a Top Ten Finalist for Magazine of the Year from the American Society of Business Publication Editors' AZBEE Awards. In 2016, Donoff received the Jesse H. Neal Award for her Editor’s Comments in the category of Best Commentary/Blog, and in 2015, AL received a Jesse H. Neal Award for Best Media Brand (Overall Editorial Excellence).Prior to her entry into design journalism, Donoff worked in New York City architectural offices including FXFowle where she was part of the project teams for the Reuters Building at Three Times Square and the New York Times Headquarters. She is a graduate of Bates College in Lewiston, Me., and she earned her Master of Architecture degree from the School of Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis.

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