Dutch architect MVRDV has designed a façade for a Tiffany shop in a Shanghai retail development bejeweled by 6,988 handcrafted glass “diamonds”.
The shop is located in Taikoo-Li Qiantan retail development in the Qiantan International Business district in the south of the city.
Each of the faux diamonds is 21cm wide, 13cm tall and weigh 1.5kg. They are held in place by high-tension thin steel wires coated in a mirrored steel finish. This will allow the façade to be dismantled in the future, and the diamonds reused or recycled.
The diamonds are placed to give a sparkling effect but become more spread out in some areas, such as around the first-floor balcony at the shop’s café, to improve views.
At night, the façade can be lit in any colour, including the Tiffany trademark blue, with colours refracted by the glass diamonds.
Last year, a “jewellery box” extension was added to Tiffany’s flagship New York shop.
