The Miss Dior exhibition design by OMA in Tokyo’s Roppongi Museum offers an immersive journey through the fragrance’s history, blending architectural installations and exhibition design elements.
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A Scented Overture: Setting the Stage for Miss Dior
The Miss Dior exhibition, masterfully designed by OMA/Shohei Shigematsu, greets visitors with a vibrant prelude even before they step inside the Roppongi Museum in Tokyo, Japan. The museum’s exterior is transformed into a canvas, adorned with Ukiyo-e inspired floral motifs printed onto existing flower pots, echoing the fragrant essence of Miss Dior perfume. A prominent pink Miss Dior logo in metallic relief further announces the exhibition’s theme at the entrance to the front plaza. The museum’s facade is draped with large-scale graphic posters, and the building’s pink tinted glass provides glimpses into the initial exhibition space. This immersive introduction immediately immerses visitors in the world of Miss Dior, engaging their senses with color and fragrance.
A Journey Through Time and Fragrance: Exploring the Miss Dior Universe
The exhibition unfolds as a captivating journey through seven distinct exhibition spaces, each meticulously designed to unveil a different facet of Miss Dior. The first room, “Miss Dior: Stories of a Miss,” presents an array of Miss Dior artifacts, replicas, and objects, each showcased in its own custom glass vitrine. Visitors follow a curved wall that transitions from white to pink, passing through curtains emblazoned with the Miss Dior logo to enter the display area. This space acts as a captivating sampler of the exhibition’s thematic threads. On the opposite wall, an oversized replica of the latest Miss Dior perfume bottle, rotating 360 degrees, provides a dramatic focal point. The space culminates in a backlit pink plexiglass threshold, inviting visitors into the next chapter of the exhibition.
Echoes of Antiquity and Nature: Miss Dior by Eva Jospin and Fields of Flowers
The second space, “Miss Dior by Eva Jospin,” draws inspiration from classical architecture, evoking the grandeur of structures like the Villa Giulia in Rome, Italy. It features artist Eva Jospin’s intricate tapestries, which interweave natural motifs with haute couture patterns, creating a tactile and immersive experience. In contrast to the previous room’s whimsical oversized bottle, a single glass goblet at the center of the space commands attention. The third space, “Fields of Flowers,” introduces the five floral fragrance notes of the latest Miss Dior perfume. Within a sculpted landscape of undulating fabrics and curved forms, the experience of being enveloped in a flower or a meticulously crafted haute couture dress is abstractly recreated, with abstract floral imagery projected onto the dress forms. This multi-layered design echoes the physical process of harvesting select flower petals for the perfume, seamlessly linking the perfume’s creation with its key scent profiles.
Unveiling the Evolution of Miss Dior: Stories of a Miss and The Birth of Ready-to-Wear
The fourth space, “Stories of a Miss,” utilizes the iconic Miss Dior bow as a design element. A continuous pink metallic ribbon outlines a fluid circulation path, surrounded by double-sided glass vitrines that display objects related to Miss Dior’s history and evolution. The pink ribbon, narrowing towards the center and widening at both ends, mirrors the hourglass form of the classic Miss Dior double-eared bottle in plan and section. A continuous LED light strip runs along the pink ribbon, creating a dynamic gradient of light throughout the room, emphasizing the ribbon’s linear continuity. The double-sided glass allows visitors to view objects from both front and back, prompting new relationships, associations, and narrative frameworks across themes. The fifth space, “Miss Dior: The Birth of Ready-to-Wear,” focuses on the ready-to-wear line launched in 1967, which was the first for the House of Dior. The original graphic emblem of the collection is recreated on pixelated geometry in saturated colors and varying scales. Complementing the curved forms of the preceding rooms, this space features rounded, undulating circular forms, creating an orthogonal rectangular shape with a central podium comprised of plinths.
Celebrating Artistic Collaborations: Dior Illustrated and The Miss Dior Dream
The sixth space, “Dior Illustrated,” showcases the works of two of the brand’s most renowned illustrators, René Gruau and Mats Gustafson. Their exquisite artwork is reproduced in life-size prints, offering intimate close-ups of their handwork and details. Each artist’s work is paired in a meandering curved form made from cotton-flocked fiberglass, referencing the soft undulations of drapery and curtains found in Gruau’s and Christian Dior’s design studio and presentations. The final space, “The Miss Dior Dream,” elevates Miss Dior haute couture dresses on undulating washi paper mounds, complemented by commissioned artworks from key Dior family collaborators and specially designed Miss Dior perfume bottles. This arrangement highlights the natural and artistic inspirations behind Miss Dior. The paper mounds raise the haute couture dresses, creating a unique vantage point from which to view these one-of-a-kind pieces.
A Harmonious Blend of Materials and Forms: Capturing the Essence of Miss Dior
Throughout the exhibition, each environment reflects the multifaceted aura of Miss Dior. Exaggerated scales and vibrant colors convey both a sense of history and a fresh, youthful spirit. The exhibition design employs a diverse range of materials and geometric forms to communicate elegance and boldness. OMA’s approach reveals new perspectives on a timeless icon and draws fresh connections across diverse themes. Key themes and inspirations are transformed into surreal environments, immersing visitors in the multifaceted world of Miss Dior.
Project Information:
Architects: OMA/Shohei Shigematsu
Area: Not Available
Project Year: 2024
Project Location: Tokyo, Japan
Project Type: Exhibition Design
Photography: Daici Ano, Courtesy Dior
