Aesop’s signature store in Bern occupies a heritage-listed site on Kramgasse, only doors away from the apartment in which Albert Einstein lived while writing the Annus mirabilis papers. Created in collaboration with architects from einszu33, its design is intended to express a distinctly Swiss identity through a dialogue between crafted elements and lean industrial components.
The approach aimed to convert the interior’s 35 square metres almost invisibly, not designing in the customary sense but subtly repairing and modifying. Most new elements seem as if they have always occupied the space, and some existing fittings have merely been refinished – such as wooden cabinetry repainted using the same subdued grey that covers the walls and ceiling, accentuating the gentle palette announced on entry by Oak parquetry flooring.
