Excerpt: MASONPRINCE, an office interior by TOMO Design, brings new experiences by creating a narrative with an interrupted timeline, incorporating a design language that “transcends the present“, and building a work scenario of “MP Studio” in the space. With an avant-garde perspective and via a unique medium, the design creates a dialogue between the past and the future. It connects the brand’s classless concept with space, brings out unbounded dynamics and showcases a multi-dimensional time-space realm of the MASONPRINCE universe.
Project Description
[Text as submitted by architect] Beyond the boundary of the present, time and space intertwine, order and disorder fuse, and the real and virtual integrate. MP’s time is about the past, present and future. “The present” is a hyper-dimensional time point that transcends the past and leaps towards the future. Guide the visitors to transcend daily experience, and to unconsciously walk in the “MP Studio beyond the present”. TOMO Design worked with MASONPRINCE to bring a new experience and create a new spatial realm.
PART ONE
MP: Classless fashion brand
Multi-dimensional time-space experience
A landmark that amplifies the brand voice
Subverts conventional perception, and breaks the limits.
Break away from the mainstream of the fashion industry, and hold on to a free attitude of rejecting labelling. With the concept of a “classless fashion community”, MASONPRINCE returns the freedom of dressing to young people.
Without being limited to a certain or fixed language, the clothing designed by MASONPRINCE entices customer groups from different classes, ages and genders. The brand explores aesthetics through fashion, reflects on the social status quo, pays attention to lifestyles, and works to create emotional value for people through clothing. MASONPRINCE, with its brand values and visionary, trendy designs, not only wins over many young people but also attracts some of the most popular celebrities who choose to wear its clothing in their daily life.
After its offline debut at a pop-up show during Shanghai Fashion Week to present its “The Urban After Party” runway series, the fast-growing young Chinese fashion brand, which had gained its momentum from online social media, urgently needed a new space for its target audience to socialize and amply the voice. At the Dongshankou area in Guangzhou, a rendezvous for stylish young people, an old Western-style house marked with the year “1931” magically resonated with the vintage DNA of MASONPRINCE as if under the influence of an irreversible universal power, and thus became the location of the brand’s first brick-and-mortar store.
TOMO Design worked with MASONPRINCE to bring new experiences by creating a narrative with an interrupted timeline, incorporating a design language that “transcends the present”, and building a work scenario of “MP Studio” in the space. With an avant-garde perspective and via a unique medium, the design creates a dialogue between the past and the future. It connects the brand’s classless concept with space, brings out unbounded dynamics and showcases a multi-dimensional time-space realm of the MASONPRINCE universe.
PART TWO
“Transcend the Present” Studio
Disorderly Collision
WORK IN “-25:00MP”
“Transcend the Present”
Build the scene with “MP STUDIO” as the theme
Create time and work scenarios
The past, present and future interweave, generating several hyper-dimensional time points.
Based on the concept of “reserved timeline”, the three time points are not linear in a relationship but are interweaving. In this time system, the passage of time becomes unpredictable and uncontrollable.
“Present” is to be frozen. “Past” and “future” will replace “present”, and reach a state of “transcend the present”, where time overlaps and space is disordered. The three-time points, namely past, present and future, are interweaved out of order. Blurring the boundaries of time, it is related to the past, the plausible realm of the future. 1931 on the reversed timeline represents the urban location where the MP store sits, while 2023 on the forward timeline indicates a contrast of the same urban location at a different time point. The design presents the urban interface of the same place at both time points.
Spatial scenes: time-space boundary (facade and storefront), blurred time dimension (front garden), departure point (bus station) A green gradient transparent glass acts as a boundary that seems to separate the store from “the present”, but also builds up a connection between them.
The blurred boundary creates a middle field in between reality and the fictional world. It can be a physical space that we already know or a virtual space in our imagination. In the field, the present and the past intertwine with each other. It can be a mysterious labyrinth or a boundless universe that invites the wildest imagination. As visitors venture to explore the MASONPRINCE universe, they may also become aware of the uncertainty and impact behind the boundary.
The story starts at a bus station where the order of time is lost. A series of MASONPRINCE posters, presented in the form of a bus station advertisement, unveils the core narrative of time travel and marks the beginning of a journey that “transcends the present”. In a field with an interrupted timeline, visitors will find “WORK IN-25:00MP”, the 25th hour in a day that belongs only to MASONPRINCE.
The overlapping time dimension is the future and a reflection of the present cosmic regions. 2023 of the forward timeline represents a grid image of the area where the MP store locates, while the year 2231 on the hyper-directional timeline overlaps and mirrors the image of the galaxy array. The same spatial scene at different time points is presented in the same image.
Spatial scenes: superhuman foyer, time mailbox station (cashier’s and reception area), time-space elevator hall (accessory area), a time-space elevator (fitting room). The 1 hour beyond 24 hours unfolds slowly behind the door. As the visitors enter the store, the timeline reverses from the present to the future of 2231. Here the visitors will be greeted by a superhuman known as “MP.01”. As the present and the future overlap, the space is infused with a sense of conflicts between different substances.
Inscribed with the logo of MASONPRINCE, the metal glitters with a futuristic sense found in science fiction, covering the old walls that belong to the present. A weird humanoid figure from the future sits behind a modern office desk. The well-selected items of MASONPRINCE are displayed here, arranged in rows stretching deep into the space under the dim, yellow light. Videos about MASONPRINCE are played on a screen, which is like a time mailbox that delivers fashion packages to time travellers who visit the store.
The interplay between the future and the present within the space and the contrasts it creates bring a unique experience to the visitors. As the interrupted timeline extends deeper into the space, vagueness and contrast develop in the spatial functions and the expression of substances. The fitting room and the accessory room are subtly envisioned as an “elevator” and “elevator hall”.
The bathroom is designed as “filing cabinets” in the time archive room.
The “vintage office” turns into a special existence in the creation ground of MASONPRINCE.
The interrupted timeline and blurred boundaries between the present and the future offer an anchor that extends beyond the dimension of time, providing the ultimate way to interpret the functions of different areas within the space. The textural comparison between “present” and “future”, the collision between functions and scenarios, and the connection of spaces, produce unique aesthetics exclusive to MP, which stimulates visitors’ curiosity and desire for exploration.
By decomposing time consciousness, it’s about the past and the time sequential imagery field of the present. The order of time is reversed. The year 1931 in the reversed timeline represents the inner mapping concept of MP, and it appears in the spatial overlap of the year 2023 in the forward timeline, embodying the decomposed overlap and stream of consciousness of the original memory fragments in the space. Spatial scenes: leaping stairs, retro office, workshop show stand, reception room. The staircase, marking a leap in time and space, is in between one rustic wall and one shiny wall, implying the dialogue between the past and present in the next journey.
The distressed tabletop is finely polished, whilst telling the story of time. The retro wooden wardrobe displays accessories. A formal office accommodates a bathtub. With no limitations, the space is full of imagination, where absurdity and surprises are so natural here. Vintage items, such as a printer, a computer and a first-generation mobile phone on a retro desk, are brought into the space. Those elements bring people back to the past and make time seem to slow down here.
“MP Studio” turns into a clothing workshop in the 1930s here. The linear show stands resemble old-fashioned assembly lines, while their smooth modern surfaces are a constant reminder of the present. Next to the workshop, the reception room is illuminated by the flickering “firelight”, which brings a touch of vitality into a vintage ambience. Ubiquitous contrasts and shocks create an experience beyond reality and bring the storyline to its climax.
Ubiquitous contrasts and shocks create an experience beyond reality and bring the storyline to its climax. The three-time points, “1931-2023-2231”, presented in a disordered timeline, bring out an intertwined space and unusual experiences. The combination of plots and scenarios creates a spatial narrative with an abnormal timeline, providing a new experience to visitors. The space conveys the values of MASONPRINCE – adhering to the original intention, breaking boundaries and never setting limitations, and leads visitors to perceive the power of “transcending the present” and the brand’s classless spirits.
TOMO Design created multiple integrations through super-dimensional imagination, the spatial narrative and the consideration of the site’s context, explored the balance between brand and people, people and space, space and brand, and produced a super offline experience field exclusive to MASONPRINCE.
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