© Nacasa & Partners Inc.

n August 31st, Louis Vuitton opened its biggest store -the seventh global store in Japan- on Omotesando Avenue, the most vibrant avenue in the Japanese capital.

Designed by the Japanese architect Jun Aoki* and created by Eric Carlson and David Mac Nulty, directors of Louis Vuitton's Department of Architecture, the building is the highpoint of a remarkable aesthetic process.

A novel architecture inspired by the famous LV trunk
Its 3 340 m2 surface area is split into five volumes, designed like trunks with different dimensions, and positioned one against the other but also overlapping through a subtle and complex use of space. Their façades echo the various historic canvas which have covered the famous LV trunks throughout the years.

© Nacasa & Partners Inc.

Twenty-five masterpieces from the Louis Vuitton museum in Asnières have travelled to Japan. They will be permanently displayed in the exhibition room on the fifth floor. The walls of this part of the building are covered with a coating resembling the first striped canvas of the LV trunks, to mid-height.

Considered as the icon brand and symbol of French savoir-faire in Japan -the world's leading luxury market- Louis Vuitton has doubled its presence in the country in 10 years, to reach 44 stores today, 7 of which are global stores.

*The architect Jun Aoki
Born in 1956 in Yokohama, Japan, Jun Aoki was chosen from a competition to build the Louis Vuitton "global store" in Nagoya in 1999. The following year, he designed the exterior of a Louis Vuitton shop in Ginza, Tokyo. Having graduated from Tokyo University, he worked for seven years with the great-post-modern architect Arata Isozaki. Since then, he has created numerous buildings, most importantly the Mamihara Bridge (1995), the Museum of the Fukushima lagoon and the swimming pool close to it (1997).

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