Louis Vuitton Visionary Journeys | OMA - Office for Metropolitan Architecture

As the cultural anchor of “LV The Place Seoul”, Visionary Journeys Seoul is designed to communicate both history and contemporary identities of Louis Vuitton through a scenographic journey.

Located in the main branch of Shinsegae, the first Korean department store, Visionary Journeys Seoul takes place a historic building dedicated to retail at this scale. In a rare opportunity to occupy six floors, Louis Vuitton’s retail experience is reimagined as a cultural one, with two floors entirely dedicated to the exhibition.

Here, exhibition and retail are treated as connected programs. Inside-out moments reveal select rooms to the retail floor, acting as storefronts with stories on display. Points of sale are seamlessly woven into the galleries, and the multiple entry points allow easy access to these locations. Select galleries are designed to accommodate lectures, concerts, and pop-up events, reflecting a broader Korean trend toward retail experiences indistinguishable from those of a museum or venue.

Spanning three floors and 1,300 square meters of Shinsegae Main, the exhibition unfolds across eleven themed rooms, half of which are presented for the first time. Galleries are organized through four interrelated lenses into Louis Vuitton’s past and present: history, lifestyle, craftsmanship, and collaborations. Two installations deploy site-specific Trunkscapes, new iterations of the modular system developed for Louis Vuitton’s global retail and exhibition identity.

Trunkscape

On the ground floor, a Trunkscape tunnel composed of 270 Monogram 30 Boîte Chapeau (“Hat Box”) is an immersive portal into the Louis Vuitton store and preview of the exhibition above.

Origins

Visionary Journeys begins on the fifth floor with Origins, where the House’s evolution coalesces as a cloud of nearly 1,000 documents and cutouts and three dozen artifacts. Six chapters tracing historical and contemporary developments unfold across a faceted wood enclosure inspired by traditional Korean screens. This continuous armature forms pockets for each chapter and is visible outside the exhibition, constituting its “façade.”

Watches

Watches is the first of three consecutive galleries exploring the Maison’s transformation into a lifestyle brand. In a central band of vitrines, ten Louis Vuitton-designed timepieces are showcased chronologically, with mechanical watches displayed on revolving watch winders. The central vitrine displays a large watch trunk. This piece’s compartments inspired the seemingly infinite matrix of microfiber-lined panels and round screens that surround the room These screens display packshots of iconic timepieces and video clips from the Fabrique du Temps workshop where visitors can see the craftsmanship that goes into this horological lineage.

Picnic

Picnic trunks and related documents are suitably arranged at a picnic. Artifacts are displayed in vitrines atop picnic tables. Behind is a full-scale reproduction of the world’s first mobile home, the Limousine de Voyage, a collaboration between Georges Vuitton and the Kellner Coachbuilding Company. The manicured AstroTurf “lawn” and dynamic, projected sky reflect endlessly in mirrored walls.

Personalization

Personalization unfolds inside a monolithic luggage stack that highlights the diversity of customized trunks. Inspired by, at Asnières, the wall-mounted collection of ornately decorated trunk faces, personalized trunks are “sliced” to form a 127-module mosaic enveloping the room. Light boxes and screens displaying various trunk faces are embedded among these “tiles.” A central vitrine houses a collection of historic and contemporary personalized pieces.

Workshop

The Maison’s savoir-faire is presented within a set that borrows the sawtooth roof, arched windows, and worktables from Louis Vuitton’s Asnières workshop. In a central, semi-enclosed area, artisans demonstrate how to build and personalize trunks, and viewers can observe these activities in mirrored “skylights” overhead. This stage can also host events like pop-ups, and reconfigurable perimeter vitrines, which presently display gold-painted tools and historical documents, allow for rotating displays.

Testing

Apparatuses from the Maison’s quality laboratory conduct tests on contemporary bags and trunks, revealing processes that, while integral to Louis Vuitton’s savoir-faire, are ordinarily hidden from view. Test features three distinct devices: controlled lift and drop mechanisms and “Louise,” a robotic arm opening and closing pieces. Videos of other tests are screened in the far alcove, while packshots of bags and their components are arranged opposite.

Icons

Visitors wind through a kaleidoscopic field of 22 iconic Louis Vuitton bags suspended in column-like vitrines, 7 of which rotate. Representing each of the Maison’s artistic and creative directors, these pieces embody the tension between timeless designs and creative reinvention.

Monogram

The history of the House’s Monogram canvas materializes in two sections – a chronological display of inspirations and historical documents (reproductions). Uniquely shaped Monogram bags – from animals to vehicles of voyage – are deconstructed into their patterns, then reassembled into a curved, multi-layered, floor-to-ceiling display that emphasizes the Maison’s craftsmanship and whimsy.

Music

Visionary Journeys continues on the fourth floor with exhibits foregrounding the Maison’s embrace of other creative disciplines. Music presents Louis Vuitton-designed musical instruments, cases, and speakers in an anechoic-chamber-like space lined with wedges of blue acoustic foam. The DJ trunk, speakers, and stage allow the exhibit to host concerts and listening sessions that can expand into the adjacent atrium.

Collaboration

A rotating carousel, set into a wall of 313 chrome-dipped bags in eleven iconic shapes, showcases six contemporary artists’ interpretations of classic Louis Vuitton bags. The carousel is synced to an LED screen displaying motifs from the object on view. The mirrored surfaces reflect the shifting patterns, creating an environment reflective of the infinite possibilities of collaboration.

Fashion

Twelve looks by Louis Vuitton’s five creative directors, are shown against an ever-changing backdrop. Fashion’s undulating walls form five pockets in which ensembles are grouped by director. Split-flap display systems cycle through sixteen configurations, composing fashion show sets, collection shots, process imagery, and graphics.

Team: Benedetta Gatti, Blake Kem, Eugene Kim, Niccolo Baldi, Francesca Parmiggiani, Titouan Chapouly, Vicky Cao

Credit: Photography by Kwa Yong Lee, Courtesy Louis Vuitton