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2020 has been an unprecedented year for all of us, and by the magnitude of changes it brought, it literally changed the world. By grounding the whole planet at home, it brought some space and time to reflect, especially when it came to examining changes in retail:

• Digitalisation and new purchasing habits,
• Work from home and the question of commuting,
• Notion of essential vs. non-essential goods.

*All our members, in addition to the obvious economical impact of the various closures they had to go through, witnessed significant changes in terms of how they were approaching their customers and their markets, leading to key changes both in their operating model and in their organisation.

We are launching a series of interviews with key innovative thinkers to understand the magnitude of the changes, and their views on how to deal with them. All organisations have proved their resilience and ability to cope with the emergency of the situation, however, it is a very human thing to tend to come back to habits whenever possible. What happened? How can we make the most of what we learnt and how can we make sure our organisations and thinking processes are durably impacted?*

Introduction: Jakob Sand from the BIG Group

For this session, we welcomed Jakob Sand, partner of the Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG).

BIG is a group of architects based in Copenhagen, New York, London, Barcelona and Shenzhen, founded in 2005 by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels. BIG got famous with innovative projects such as:

• Living units: “Mountain Dwelling” in Copenhagen (10,000 sqm of housing and 20,000 sqm of parking space with a  mountain theme), or the “8 Houses” project in Denmark,
• Public utility: Amager Resource Centre in Copenhagen, a waste to energy plant doubling with a ski slope,
• Corporate projects: The Google HQ in the US, Lego House in Copenhagen,
• Mixed-use buildings: The pyramid-shaped mixed-used building of Via 57 West in NY,
• Other projects: National Art Gallery in Nuuk, the Big U defence in lower Manhattan and many more (such as the Riverside project in NY),
• In retail, the group is known for having made the Galeries Lafayette Champs Elysées store.

Today, the group represents 600+ people with a holistic approach including all functions and disciplines.

Jakob Sand joined in 2011 as a partner, with previous experiences in Denmark and France with Dominique Perrault. He overviews projects at the global level.

Part 1: How to cope with innovation?

*IADS – Jakob, Bjarke Ingels has been named innovator of the year for architecture in 2011, and among the top 100 most influential people in 2016. Charismatic, known for his sense of humour, can you recall your first encounter with him and your feelings / thoughts at the time?*

Jakob Sand: We met in Paris as BIG had just won the Sorbonne University project, which was the first French project the group had to handle. I met with Bjarke very casually and we walked through the city as old friends, towards the university. It was not before we entered the building that we started to discuss this very project.

Bjarke is very easy to get along with, and what struck me was his curiosity: he was curious about my history and not worried at all about filling me in with the project and deadlines! Rem Koolhas, his former employer, once described him as “the only architect without angst”.

I think that his curiosity, fearlessness and positivity on how to tackle the problems brings us a lot of ideas and helps the group push the boundaries. This is probably why the BIG group has no specific signature style: although our buildings are certainly recognizable, they are all significantly different because when we start a project, we just do not know where we will land. He always challenges us to the maximum.

Combined with his talent, his curiosity helps us solve seemingly inextricable situations, by providing both a new approach and an almost scientific frame. Even in the most challenging moments, we are always confident that we will get somewhere. This specific methodology is probably one of our greatest points of differentiation on the market today.

Funnily enough, ten years later, this Sorbonne project in Paris is finally being built!

IADS – BIG is widely known for its innovative thinking process and ideas. How does that translate into the corporate culture? Any tips on best practices to onboard newcomers in innovative companies? Did you have to “unlearn” things?

JS: I did not have to “unlearn” as many of our projects are very classic, we just define our own approach. My previous experience was ideal when I joined, as Dominique Perrault is quite bold in his approach. Rather than unlearning, it is more about knowing history. As a good friend says: “the future starts in the past”. Even if our projects sound futuristics, they start somewhere, with references, studies and understanding of the context. It is just about making the right due diligences.

In terms of general organisation and our approach to innovation, even though Bjarke has his vision and methodology, we need to make it trickle down, not only between the 16 partners but at all levels in the 600+ staff. To achieve that, we empower everyone, in full transparency and sharing. There is no secret room where senior partners develop projects: from interns to the top level, we share information and updates on a weekly basis (let’s say it is a huge PDF sent on a weekly basis). This helps us save a significant amount of time.

Also, as many of the partners have started as interns in the company (I am an exception), the group culture is apparent at all levels. Everyone is encouraged to generate ideas, and any idea is welcome, wherever it comes from. There is no “we normally do like this” approach, but on the contrary, we are on a “what if” posture. This strongly contributes to talent retention, and this is how, for instance, we came to combine a bridge and an art gallery together in Norway in one of our projects (The Twist).

IADS- From a very practical point of view, how do you manage creativity within an international and multicultural organisation?

JS: We give responsibilities according to talent, not experience or time spent in the company. This empowers and motivates people. Some of our young talents can even feel overwhelmed with the level of responsibility they are given. But this is our way to foster talent and make them grow. Everybody is given the possibility to pitch their ideas, from interns to senior partners.

Regarding the weekly exchange, the PDF file is organically shared within the organisation. A comment from Bjarke goes to everybody, and vice versa. Of course, we are developing an app to make it more practical and optimized.

IADS- Has BIG Group gone through any kind of transformation due to the Covid-19 pandemic and if so, what and how where they dealt with?

JS: We were given 36 hours to “digitalize” the organisation, and make sure all employees could work from home. As architects, we already had the infrastructure needed to do so, as we deal with heavy files between offices across the world. For us, the change was not so much technical, but rather human: we were finally able to use tech to separate really important meetings, where you have to be physically present, to the other ones, where video conferences do the job.

While we knew technologies work and contribute to save time, we learnt the value of physical presence, which allowed us to review how we work, and when/where. This leads to a new balance, which is positive for all.

Part 2: BIG Group view on innovation in retail

IADS- Looking back: what did BIG learn with the Galeries Lafayette Champs Elysée store?

JS: We owe a lot to Galeries Lafayette for trusting us. They wanted us to bring in a fresh eye, and this is the reason why our partnership was so fruitful, as it mixed their experience and knowledge and our open approach, not taking anything for granted but on the contrary, raising “why not” questions.

I like to think of our approach as a “pragmatic utopia”: pragmatic because of course, the bottom line is to be economically sustainable and sell products, but also utopia because we believe cities can be improved. This is why we wanted to make a store which is also a destination, where you can go and stroll, in a seamless way with the urban environment. We wanted to create a physical space where you feel good and comfortable. For instance, the sneakers section is bigger than what you normally find, with a stunning architectural element creating the attraction. It is the same thing with the pinwheels moving around for watches or the giant moving belt for bags. We also created attractive glass displays on the second floor, which was a notoriously difficult floor for the previous owner.

Also, remember when I was mentioning the history? We discovered that this building used to be a bank, where customers could access a very luxurious vault in marble and precious stones. The fun part is that everything which was not visible by customers at the ground floor level was only covered with plaster, because why would you waste money on staff? We echoed this historical element by mixing a very luxurious marble and brass atrium and staircase with more contemporary white walls and a steel part, where you can find the perfumery today. This is a strong element of differentiation for the store.

We also decided to reveal the cupola, which has been masked by the former owner and created a meeting spot beneath it, like a plaza. This is what retail is about: being a natural spot where you meet your friends during a rainy day (but not only!).

IADS- What is the department store’s role for you in 2021? Should we consider it to be part of the “1% buildings” once mentioned by Bjarke as public buildings, such as churches, city halls and other public amenities? Or does it belong to something else?

JS: Put a store next to a public square. If people can sit in the public square, they will end up coming to the store. In other words, a department store needs to be a place to recharge, mingle, meet and spend time.

In the past, this was a corollary of the stores’ structures themselves: atriums were not here to be beautiful or a place to meet, but a very pragmatic way to have light come into the store and make products visible. People then appropriated these atriums as meeting places. With time, department stores wanted to maximize productivity by showing as many products as possible, closing spaces and creating floors. Thankfully we are at the end of this cycle and now visitors want space, place and a reason to come again.

I highly believe that the future of department stores is to be semi-public spaces, all the more that they are already enjoying key positions in cities. A department store is a natural part of the “1% buildings” where all senses are solicited to buy products, but not only. This is a clear competitive advantage over the internet!

It does not mean that there might not be fewer department stores, though! We are currently working on a project in Düsseldorf where one store is closed and the second one across the road kept, as they were both built in the pre-internet era. A funny point on this project: we decided to transform the road in front of the remaining store into a pedestrian area. Everybody was stressed, as “cars give energy in front of the store”. This is not the right approach: if you have passers-by, benches, trees… you will have probably much more qualified traffic for your store than cars passing by… usually cars do not come into stores!

IADS – What are your frustrations, if any, for retail? Can architecture solve all issues?

JS: No frustration on our end. Everything depends on the readiness of the retailer we are working with. Galeries Lafayette was forward-thinking, but for other projects we feel sometimes we are asked to design for the past, to stick to well-known recipes… Retailers know their part, and we are not here to teach them new tricks, but experimentation and new ideas are key to reinvent retail.

Architectural alchemy is about mixing ingredients: retail with leisure, entertainment.. a new function. For instance, for Google in California, we decided to gather almost 3,000 people on the same floor under the same roof, as we believe this reflects the new ways of working.

The toughest thing for architecture in retail is not the structure, but the mindset.

IADS - Retail is also about people – customers, but also and equally importantly sales teams. How do you take them into account in your projects?

JS: We all want meaning and purpose. This goes for any employee of any industry. The quality of offices can increase loyalty and even motivate employees to stay extra hours, thanks to a rooftop, a gym…

The topic of sustainability is particularly critical for the younger generation. We need to make them believe in and be proud of, the values promoted by the company. Our role, as architects, is to express that when they work in this particular building, they are part of a bigger plan (making a better city, a better planet…).

IADS – Is the store of the future a store at all?

JS: I am sure that a wholly virtual world is exciting. For me, the store of the future is physical! My 9-year-old who intensely uses her iPad and iPhone really enjoys going to stores to test, try and touch. We are human beings after all.

It is probable that we will see new experimentations with stores, in open air, on highways… why not?  it will be rethought in many ways, but I am confident department stores will remain relevant in the future.

They just need to keep on inventing and experimenting. For instance, we are working on an Opera house in Germany where we chose to show backstage mechanisms to spectators. A similar approach could be applied to department stores, where you could see the system fulfilling your orders in real-time, for instance.

Technologies are there. In Danish, design means “giving a form to something which does not have a form yet” or giving a form to the future. All IADS members have the possibility to define by themselves the form of their future, and that is pretty exciting!

Credits: IADS (Selvane Mohandas)