The interior circulation is a system of escalators with adjacent cart conveyors. Escalators are self-contained objects that only need to be structured and held up at their ends. This gives leeway for positioning the escalators in a myriad of ways. Instead of stacking the escalators in a column as they are in the vestibules (and in most department stores), they are positioned to “twist and spiral” the customer as they move vertically through the floors.
The interior pathways were derived by combining the angles and lines of the vestibules, interior escalators, and floor shapes. I made the decision to end the pathways with windows to create penetrating views through the building. This also determined some of the shapes and directions of the pathways. The derivation of all the pathways can be seen in these drawings. The pathways are depicted in purple hatch, and the spaced without views to the outside (the negative space) is depicted with black hatching. These drawings not only show how the building’s pathways were designed, but how they compare and overlay with views through the building and out the windows.
The pathways are made of hardwood flooring that adds a linearity to the system and helps elongate the pathways throughout the store. The merchandising was designed around these pathways, and these programmatic drawings show how the pathways extend to each merchandising section.
Escalator diagrams
Escalator section
Level -1 pathway and window systems
Level 0 pathway and window systems
Level 1 pathway and window systems
Level 2 pathway and window systems
All paths
Level -1
Level 0
Level 1
Level 2
