ALLAU
Parent Branch Store
Architecture Project by: Datemajac
Creative director: Jon.Datemajac
Illustration by: Datemajac
Location: Santa Monica, California, USA
General view
Convert the concept of the greatest danger that climbers face when they are in the mountains, the avalanche; and transform it into its most peaceful place, the Shelter. That was the mission we set out when we were tasked with branding and architecture development for a new mountaineering store chain.
The avalanche (Allau) is the greatest danger that a mountaineer faces. Whether it's snow, mud or rocks. The word has enough strength and brand resonance that is desired, that will become the exterior. So its counterpart must represent the shelter, that will be the interior.
The chosen location in Santa Monica, California proposes the material challenge of the idea as it is an urban area without any relation to mountaineering. The creative freedom that commercial architecture grants, allowed us to take the abstract idea and explore the resulting architecture after the unlikely event of an avalanche in the city.
