The Ferrari Store is to bring a touch of automotive design and engineering to Regent Street in London this month, as it takes part in the Royal Institute of British Architects' Regent Street Windows Project. Currently in its third year, the project uses Regent Street's shop windows to display art installations framed by the street's architecture, with the aim being to 'challenge expectations and bring a new approach to the shopping experience'. Or, to put it more simply, to give shoppers something a little more interesting to look at than the shops' usual window displays.
The Ferrari Store's installation, designed by British architects Feix & Merlin, uses neon lights to suggest flowing smoke trails, which form around the shape of a Ferrari Formula 1 car in one window, and a GTO in the other. This year's theme is 'play', and the Ferrari Store's contribution is supposedly 'playing with perception'. It's a tenuous link with the 'play' theme, admittedly, but the effect is nevertheless pretty striking. If you fancy wandering down to see it for yourself, the exhibit will be on display from now until May 6, as will the displays housed in other shops taking part in the project.
Alex Robbins - 18 Apr 2012