The New Pop

“We wanted to produce something that was removed from the stereotypical gallery aspect of Chelsea,” without leaving Chelsea, explains architect Spilios Gianakopoulos of his Building Fashion project with BOFFO Co-Director Faris Al-Shathir. “Both of us being passionate about architecture and fashion, we started brainstorming about how we could marry the two worlds.” The series, which launches today below the High Line at HL23, will feature a rotating crop of pop-up shops that feature of-the-moment designs from Simon Spurr, Richard Chai, Waris Ahluwalia, Heather Huey, and Siki Im. The initiative pairs each designer—selected for their mastery and their unfortunate dearth of a flagship—with a competition-winning architect from Architizer.com. Together, they are expected to conceptualize and “test-run” an idea for an eponymous shop. “We wanted to work with designers who have begun thinking about what their own store could be. It’s such a big venture to put a store together, we wanted to find people who had already initiated the conversation with themselves.” Each team has been granted a $5,000 budget on production and a two-week lease on the HL23 Tin space (a converted construction trailer), before handing it over to the next innovator. “We are making this collaboration possible in the hopes that a healthy relationship between architect and designer will grow out of this, and the pair will be able to work together again in the future.”

HL23 IS LOCATED AT 504 WEST 24 STREET, nEW YORK.