OMA｜Prada Los Angeles: Facade Without Doors & Air Curtain

OMA | Prada Los Angeles: Facade Without Doors and an Air Curtain
The entire street level is completely open, with no doors, no glass, no physical boundaries whatsoever—the street and the interior of the store are separated only by a downward-blowing air curtain, allowing pedestrians to walk directly in without obstruction. The volume above is clad in perforated aluminum panels, suspended above the opening like a lifted skirt, its underside becoming the primary surface when viewed from below. At the entrance, there is a downward staircase leading people to the semi-basement level. This approach reduces the “threshold of entry” to a physical zero while maintaining a climatic boundary. Daytime oblique shot from the sidewalk, clearly showing the complete transparency of the opening and the suspension of the upper volume.
Avoid: adding glass doors, shrinking the opening, the upper volume touching the ground, adding signs that obscure the opening.

Translated from Chinese by AI.

整個街層完全開放,沒有門、沒有玻璃、沒有任何實體的界線——街道與店內只以一道向下吹送的空氣簾分隔,行人可以毫無阻礙地直接走進去。上方的量體以穿孔的鋁板包覆,像被掀起的裙襬懸在開口之上,底面成為仰視時的主要表面。入口處有一道往下的階梯,把人引向半地下的樓層。這種作法把「進入的門檻」降到物理上的零,同時保留了氣候的界線。日間從人行道斜角拍攝,開口的完全通透與上方量體的懸浮清楚。避免:加設玻璃門、開口縮小、上方量體落地、加設招牌遮蔽開口。