Go to New York City and look for the beauty in decay, or at the very least, glamorize it. Celebrating the opening of its newest flagship store, Balenciaga brings a glossy, distorted kind of life into a 1980 Greene Street building, located in the heart of SoHo’s arts and fashion district. It’s brutalist, industrial and completely void of color, and yet, entirely alluring in an indescribable way.

The ground and mezzanine levels are visually separated with a slab spanning the store’s width, while columns resisting the spatial disruption support a display of shelving composed of saw-cut solid pieces. By design, and in line with the brand’s Raw Architecture concept, the building appears to be in disrepair: bare drywall, exposed plaster and a patina finish, which seemingly suspend the space in a state of progress. Underfoot, a vintage-style black and beige tiled floor—resembling that of Cristóbal Balenciaga’s original Paris Couture atelier—adds contrast, while paying tribute to the brand’s history.

A one-of-a-kind shopping experience, the flagship store offers the latest in ready-to-wear, shoe, bag, jewelry, eyewear, and accessory collections for men and women, as well as special SoHo items. In a tapestry of demolition and deterioration, Balenciaga’s Greene Street location invites guests to consider temporality: in construction, in clothing, in the very essence of life.

Photos by NOUA UNU STUDIO