I was introduced to the world of art at the age of 3 when I was handed a piece of oil pastel, and it didn’t take me long to figure out how to hold it and promptly turn the walls of my home into my very first canvas. Sounds like something any child of that age would do, but I grew to nurture a love that no one would have ever guessed would have led me all the way into the professional world of art and design. I fell in love with the world of design from the very first time I got my hands on paint, or perhaps I just loved the “mess” I made. Entering into the field of design and starting my undergraduate studies in this field has been rather challenging. From the beginning of the year, we’ve had to work our brains and skills around many interesting projects, but the latest submission, ‘The Retail Project’ has been the most challenging of all the testing projects I had to face.

For every project submitted in the past, we were assessed on a particular skill and asked to develop that entirely. I now understand that the purpose behind this culminated in this retail project, since it is being judged based on all the combined skills that we were tested previously. This was a rather comforting thought in the beginning, but halfway through the project, the idea of fouling everything up with mistakes began to take root. Uncertainty and indecision became my greatest fear and a sure reason for my downfall.

From the brands of interest provided, I chose “Prada” to be the brand I would have to create a flagship store for. “Prada” is a well-known, high end, international retail brand that was originally started in 1913 by Mario Prada in Milan, Italy. It is currently owned and run by his granddaughter, Miuccia Prada.  I researched the brand image, the history, influences, and the vision and mission of the company to arrive at conclusions based on my knowledge and observations. Furthermore, I conducted an initial survey, with the hopes that I would be able to obtain public opinion about this brand. Secondly, I made a more specific survey which was conducted for a special target audience. This yet again was to understand the realities of the target customers.

The conclusion of these surveys, helped ease my doubts and proved my theories. The concept I envisioned for Prada was “Reaching High”. It is clearly understood that Prada caters only for the best and this is something I wanted to depict. Taking inspiration from Maslow’s ‘Theory of Needs”, I wanted to show a similar hierarchy in my concept. This hierarchy starts from the bottom right and slowly moves to the top becoming narrower as it reaches the apex, just like in the pyramid illustrated in Maslow’s theory. This significances behind this is that I think that the hierarchy is somewhat a reflection of life’s realities.

I also took inspiration from a concept known as branching, which people often misunderstand as the roots of a tree. As Prada expands more towards the South East and Southern Asia, I am connecting this factor to try and understand how exactly did the brand Prada come about to be such a vastly recognized name all across the world? The answer to this question was always right in front of my eyes. Prada’s image is the accumulation of several small factors such as quality, exclusivity, premium, loyalty, and uniqueness. These small factors create a massive impact, similar to how the rivers, lakes, ponds, spring and other water ways flow into the sea, hence creating the oceans which figuratively here is Prada’s image.

Once I understood this, my concept became clearer and it was much easier to plan, write down ideas, draw sketches, and decide on colours and materials for my concept. My main highlight was an organic shape elevated pathway that I created to reflect the Branching inspiration. Furthermore, it was elevated to combine with the Reaching High concept. I made ‘Steps’ my main source of design that ran throughout the store. Steps depicted the idea of Prada reaching forever higher standards in their quality of merchandises.

The materials I chose for the space had a logical justification too. Smooth polished teak, oak, white marble, and granite gave the impression of cleanliness and wealth. It made the space classier, sleek, and comfortable for the benefit of the luxury crowd. I have chosen a combination of plastered red bricks, painted in white for the cladding of the façade, where red brick is a natural product and in abundant supply. This way, even with the materials I am trying to depict the hierarchy, but in a subtle manner that will be warmly accepted by the public.

I was able to finish the architectural model, presentation boards, material board, and development book on time for submission. The challenging part was not knowing whether I was going down the right path or whether there were things I needed to alter. I believe I kept expecting advice and guidance from others and forgot this was my own project and I had the sole right to take the initiative and final decisions. I realized my faults and I came back on top just in time by making decisions for myself. Even if I am wrong, I think the best way I will learn is to take risks and commit my ideas first. This made it easier for me to understand my project and complete it with confidence. Time management has also been a challenge, but the control of this is something we must develop by ourselves with practice.