KaDeWe by India Mahdavi: Bauhaus Geometry Reframed for Berlin Retail
KaDeWe, Berlin’s historic department store, brought India Mahdavi into the redesign of its women’s designer-fashion department on the second floor. Her official portfolio dates the project to 2017 and names the KaDeWe Group as client. The intervention was part of a wider renewal of the store, but Mahdavi’s work has a clear identity of its own.
The interior draws on Berlin’s design history and on principles associated with the Bauhaus. Graphic floor lines shape a passage through the retail areas and create a rhythm between different luxury-brand displays. The goal was not to compete with the collections: Mahdavi wanted an architectural language that could organise them and still express the character of the city.
Materials balance strict geometry with softness. Contrasting stone-composite floor stripes, brass-coloured display structures, pale pink carpet and green velvet seating or curtains create distinct moments along the route. The combination makes the department easy to navigate while providing places to pause and look closely at the merchandise.
Lighting is part of that spatial concept. The specialist Licht Kunst Licht describes a ceiling of repeated, indirectly illuminated coves, with discreet adjustable spotlights directing attention to the fashion. Rather than turning fixtures into visual clutter, the scheme reinforces the ordered geometry and offers both comfortable ambient light and focused display lighting.
The first four photographs come from India Mahdavi’s official KaDeWe gallery and are credited there to Derek Hudson. The fifth is sourced from lighting collaborator Licht Kunst Licht, which credits its project photographs to the KaDeWe Group without naming an individual photographer. All five images show this women’s department, not other KaDeWe renovations.
KaDeWe — design and photography credits
Project: KaDeWe women's designer fashion department, Berlin. Interior design India Mahdavi; client KaDeWe Group. Studio portfolio dates the project 2017; lighting studio dates its completion 2016. Photography for images 1–4: Derek Hudson (India Mahdavi official portfolio). Image 5: KaDeWe Group, via Licht Kunst Licht; individual photographer not specified. Sources: https://india-mahdavi.com/en/projects/interiors/72-kadewe ; https://www.lichtkunstlicht.com/projects/kadewe/
Comments