Exploring Identity and Innovation: likeuu Concept Exploration Center by Studio 10

Located in Beijing, China, the likeuu Concept Exploration Center designed by Studio 10 is a 94 m² retail interior project completed in 2024, photographed by Chao Zhang. This innovative space reimagines the retail experience by focusing on adolescent personality development, self-awareness, and interactive exploration.

Inspired by Nietzsche’s philosophy that adolescence is a critical stage for forming independent identity, the design encourages teenagers to explore their sense of self and engage deeply with their surroundings. Through a carefully orchestrated multi-sensory experience, the center connects visual, tactile, and spatial stimuli, sparking curiosity, critical thinking, and reflection on the relationship between appearance and essence.

Exploring Dualities Through Design

The design of the center emphasizes dialectical thinking and explores dualities such as softness versus hardness, stability versus change, reality versus illusion, and restriction versus freedom. These abstract concepts are expressed physically through materials, forms, and spatial structures, allowing teenagers to experience and contemplate complex philosophical ideas through their interaction with the environment.

The layout features open storefronts at both ends while solid walls define the sides. Enclosed areas like fitting rooms and storage are embedded within these walls, wrapped in semi-transparent tensioned membranes. This approach creates faintly visible volumes and edges while generating irregular, transitional display spaces. The soft, ambiguous membranes contrast sharply with the hard, defined inner structures, reinforcing the dialogue between appearance and substance, restriction and freedom, within personal growth.

Materiality and Form

Materials and physical forms are deliberately juxtaposed to challenge perception. Exhibition walls, display tables, and column bases appear soft and flowing like fabric, yet are constructed from rigid fiberglass gypsum. Textures range from delicate to rough, emphasizing the contradictions of the physical world and the tension between sensory perception and cognitive understanding.

The space predominantly employs a beige tonal palette to accentuate the geometric essence of the objects and highlight the colorful products on display. Strategic pops of the brand's visual identity (VI) colors peek from behind membranes or corners of displays, subtly encouraging exploration and discovery.

Teen-Centric Functionality

Understanding teenagers’ psychological and social needs, the design introduces a “teenage fitting room” concept. Unlike traditional fitting rooms, these areas are separated from the public zones by non-full-height exhibition walls, ensuring privacy while maintaining connectivity. Semi-private transitional spaces behind these walls provide companions or parents with comfortable areas to rest, fostering interaction while respecting the teenager’s independence.

By integrating philosophical inspiration, material innovation, and adolescent-centered functionality, the likeuu Concept Exploration Center stands as a leading example of retail interior design that transcends conventional shopping spaces, transforming them into immersive environments for exploration, learning, and personal growth.

All photographs are works of Chao Zhang