Smiljan Radić x Alexander McQueen
‘Timeless’ is a time-worn and more or less
useless way of describing anyone’s work,
particularly that of an architect. Architecture
is as time-specific as fashion, even if the shifts
in favoured materials and mannerisms are
more tectonic. And yet the work of architect
Smiljan Radić does encourage that tag. His
star-making Serpentine Pavilion in 2014 was
a fibreglass Neolithic hangout, while otherprojects, such as the Viña Vik winery (see
W*184) or restaurant Mestizo, both in his
native Chile, often match sharp Miesian lines
with powerful, choreographed geology or
towering trees. His House for the Poem of the
Right Angle, meanwhile, is a crystalline cave
and homage to the writings of Le Corbusier.
It was this house that particularly intrigued
Sarah Burton, creative director of AlexanderMcQueen, who first met Radić in 2017.
The fruits of that creative relationship, a new
three-storey Alexander McQueen flagship
store in London, opened earlier this year on
Old Bond Street, with Radić describing it as a
‘domestic labyrinth, a place where you could
wander and get calmly lost, where you could
find fashion, art and architecture in true
connection, defining your space.’ Radić has »A cave-like labyrinth shot through with glass tubes and floating mannequins
PORTRAIT: DON MCCULLIN PHOTOGRAPHY: JASON ODDY WRITER: NICK COMPTON134 ∑