EN Skincare Salon and Store

Brass, with its golden luminosity and associations with alchemy and precious metallurgy, functions throughout this spatial composition as a symbol of transformation, refinement, and the elevation of base materials to higher states, resonating profoundly with skincare's essential promise of beautification and renewal. The circular geometry pervading the design, manifest in ring lights, cylindrical furniture forms, and implied vessel shapes, invokes archetypal wholeness, the unbroken circle representing completion, eternity, and the cyclical nature of renewal that skincare rituals embody. The barrel vault itself carries deep symbolic resonance as a threshold architecture, historically marking passages between states, whether in Roman bath complexes where bodily purification occurred, monastery cellars where transformation through fermentation unfolded, or grotto spaces where earth and human intention merged. The juxtaposition of rough irregular stone against geometrically perfect brass forms encodes a fundamental dialectic between nature and culture, organic process and human refinement, rawness and polish that mirrors the skincare journey from natural ingredients to perfected formulation to transformed skin. The mirror's presence introduces the symbolism of self-reflection central to beauty practice, while its multiplication of space suggests infinite possibility and the multiple selves available through transformation. The amber glass vessels arrayed along the wall recall apothecary traditions linking contemporary skincare to centuries of botanical remedy and alchemical experimentation. Numerologically, the five stools surrounding the central altar-like counter may reference the human form with its five extremities, grounding the space in bodily experience. The warm golden palette operating throughout evokes solar symbolism, life force, vitality, and the healthy glow that represents skincare's ultimate aspiration, transforming this commercial space into a contemporary sanctuary of self-cultivation.

Designed for new Japanese cosmetics brand En, the store occupies of an 18th-century building in the center of the French capital. The name "En" translates as "beauty" in Japanese, but can also mean "circle" and "connection". These three translations all inspired the design of the store. On the ground floor are two bright minimal spaces, furnished with curving brass partitions and furniture. Meanwhile the basement reveals the building's history, with exposed stone walls and a vaulted ceiling.