Future Technology Meets the Timeless Classic

DJI aims to be a technology company that keeps driving human progress, reshaping how people work and live through innovation. E Studio has worked closely with DJI for three years on technology retail, continually developing spaces and scenarios for new kinds of consumers.

The DJI & Hasselblad concept store is SI, a new DJI store type: a seamlessly integrated imaging space where visitors can try DJI and Hasselblad products up close, see the work of master photographers, and appreciate both craftsmanship and the beauty of technology.

The first concept flagship in Shanghai sits on the busy Xintiandi shopping street. The whole building keeps its Shikumen façade, an emblem of modern Shanghai, while the interior answers the historic district with a minimal, technological image: a dialogue between past and future.

The challenge in developing the SI identity was to balance two brand characters, DJI standing for the future and Hasselblad for the timeless classic, merging and distinguishing the two brands within one retail setting.

In a crowded market where every brand competes for attention, what image can stand for DJI and Hasselblad? Only their products can truly represent the brands. To give industrial design and product display their fullest expression, E Studio designed by subtraction, removing every attention-seeking form and keeping only materials and planes of space, so the products stand out as clearly as possible.

The ground floor holds the DJI product experience area; the upper floor houses the Hasselblad imaging gallery and a workshop.

A sculptural metal spiral staircase links the two floors. Seen through the glass curtain wall it feels light, and sunlight turns it into a play of light and shadow. The void at the centre of the spiral serves as an in-store test-flight zone.

Bringing future technology and timeless classic together, the store is conceived as a museum-grade exhibition space. Grey stone forms a pure container, and products are set out neatly and evenly on monolithic blocks. Every display fixture is made of stone, forming a steady, regular matrix; the uniform space lets the products stand out all the more.

Hasselblad

"That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind," said Neil Armstrong in 1969, as the first person to set foot on the Moon.

Some moments are destined to become classics. Before light and shadow settle into an image, inspiration has already sparked behind the camera. It all begins with one person's drive to break with convention. From the film era to the digital age, Hasselblad has made imaging tools that give form to creative vision and let inspiration flourish.

Record the classics and become one. Over eighty years Hasselblad has captured countless legendary moments. E Studio planned the Hasselblad retail area as an art gallery, softening the hard edge of retail and recreating classic moments through art so that photography lovers can immerse themselves naturally. The gallery takes the 1969 Apollo Moon landing as its theme and displays a limited-edition, life-size astronaut sculpture produced under NASA supervision.

Colour is held back across the space, leaving it to the photographs. The Hasselblad fixtures are made in matte black wood grain, with counters in soft grey leather that set off the cameras' refined industrial design. The rear cabinets pick up the signature orange of Hasselblad's shutter button, making the brand stand out all the more against the black space.

Construction elements and display fixtures are standardised and prefabricated in the factory, and sensible transport keeps losses down, enabling an efficient model for opening stores worldwide.

E Studio will keep exploring commercial space design, from a sense of high technology, artistry and new materials to open, interactive settings for many kinds of social life, digging into the real pain points of retail to take commercial space to a new level.

Client
DJI & Hasselblad

Location
Xintiandi, Huangpu, Shanghai

Area
580 m²

Completion Date
2022.03

Design Firm
E Studio

Lead Designer
Fan, Junjian
Zhou, Xuanzhuo

Design Team
Fang, Guiyun
Huang, Chenxi
Wu, Leqing

Photographer
YuuuunStudio
Tan, Huitao