AIRMIX is a trendy lifestyle chain store that originated in the ancient city of Xi’an. This 240-square-meter flagship store is situated in Qujiang Creative Valley, the most fashionable district in Xi’an. As the brand’s first location, it carries the important role of establishing and defining the brand’s identity.
The main challenge of this project was to create a strong, memorable brand image within a relatively compact space. SpActrum Spectrum approached this by analyzing lifestyle products and extracting the concept of “bubbles” as both a sensory and symbolic element. Using the physical characteristics of bubbles as a design language, they crafted sculptural displays rich in symbolism, which organize the space and guide the customer experience. Complemented by transparent, oversized logo facades, the store achieves a highly recognizable visual identity.
Beyond interior design, the project also explores activating urban streets and public spaces. By drawing people out of everyday routines and stimulating artistic imagination, it reinterprets the meaning and boundaries of lifestyle retail spaces.
Formal Concept
The bubble concept serves as a metaphor and symbol. Designers questioned the essence of lifestyle products, which are often considered secondary needs after material prosperity.
However, from a biological evolution standpoint, beauty often stems from “sexual selection” and environmental recognition. Traits that enhance survival and species continuation gradually become key aspects of beauty.
From the vast sky with white clouds, the muscular mane of lions, to the courtship dances of birds, beauty holds extraordinary significance in life. Pan Yan, chief designer at SpActrum Spectrum, found that soap bubbles provide an excellent metaphor for lifestyle products. Soap bubbles offer fleeting beauty and pleasure, but the urge to blow another bubble is continuous. They are beautiful yet fragile, motivating people to recreate them swiftly. For design, bubbles are not just an image but a study of their morphological rules, used as a formal design tool.
Design Elements
Bubbles transform from simple spheres into forms made of vertical bubble walls and circular arches due to surface tension during formation and stacking, a natural physical process. SpActrum Spectrum envisions several giant spheres stacked in the air within the store’s spatial limits, intersecting and cutting into each other. The combination of spheres and vertical planes forms a striking hybrid between flat and curved surfaces.
The design explores form through four distinct approaches, based on spatial analysis and flow:
- Bubble Altar: The main store area features expansive vertical walls and arches combined with custom skylights, creating an immersive and cohesive experience that dominates the space.
- Wind Sail Sculptures: Flanking the altar are upright flat panels with residual bubble spheres, forming sculptural flags. These contrast sharply with the altar’s solidity—curved versus flat, vertical versus horizontal, thin versus massive—creating visual tension and aesthetic intrigue by challenging conventional perceptions of gravity and mass.
- The Hanging Sphere: A massive sphere hovers above the storefront, with only a small portion extending inside. A pathway cuts through the middle, lined with various fragrances, marking the beginning of the “Fragrant Journey.” This suspended element horizontally divides the space, isolating the head as the primary sensory organ inside the bubble, while the body moves along giant stone pillars resembling a coastline, offering a unique sensory experience.
- Bubble Fragments: Scattered fragments appear in corners, symbolizing infinite bubbles extending through infinite space. This suggests that what we see is merely a glimpse into the vast bubble universe, akin to dark matter permeating everywhere.
Color & Material
The bubbles are envisioned in vivid and profound colors. The color scheme was developed through digital renderings, scale models, and full-size mockups. After extensive experimentation, a cosmic moment was captured where a smooth, star-like surface outshone a crimson alien-like organism. This deep red color, reminiscent of the Langyao red gradient, is dynamic and vibrant, visually changing as it moves through space.
The display cabinets are finished in gray, while the walls and floors are painted white, creating a clean stage that highlights the bubble sculptures.
Geometric research during the design phase gave all elements a unified formal language. The impressive giant red sculptural installations were fabricated by a professional art production studio in Xi’an. Large steel plates were precisely cut in a specialized workshop, where architects and technicians collaborated closely on installation and welding details to ensure accuracy and efficiency.
This studio specializes in large-scale art installations for prominent contemporary Chinese artists, leveraging advanced mechanical processing and extensive experience with alien-inspired objects. The outcome blends precise industrial manufacturing with the delicate aesthetic craftsmanship of artisans.
Sustainability was a key factor in material selection. SpActrum Spectrum aimed to reflect “lightness” within the heavy urban lifestyle through material choices. The project extensively uses recyclable materials such as steel and glass. All lighting is LED to reduce energy consumption. Furthermore, most construction materials were sourced within a 50-kilometer radius, minimizing the carbon footprint from transportation.
Urban Cells
SpActrum is heavily involved in urban renewal projects, where each small store acts like a living cell within a larger organism. In indoor projects, SpActrum responds to the city’s vast scale by breaking down traditional boundaries between street, store, and city, making interiors an extension of public urban space. This cellular approach fosters communication and connection, with every project speaking for the city and its public realm.
AIRMIX is located on a street corner in Qujiang Creative Valley, with two street-facing façades serving as brand logo displays. The massive logo acts as a bold statement to the city. Cities require both quiet, functional spaces and dynamic, exciting points to find breakthroughs within simplicity and structure.
The large AIRMIX logo offers strong brand recognition, with the letters ‘A’ and ‘X’ slightly tilted to denote entrance and exit. The two ‘I’s’ function as LED display screens, transforming the logo into massive illuminated lightboxes at night. The side façade acts as the side wall of the front lightbox, wrapped with metal panels at equal height, conveying a solid presence. The entrance and display windows are formed by comb-like arrangements of short walls spaced variably.
This project exemplifies SpActrum Spectrum’s design philosophy: connecting client needs with broader social issues through abstract thinking that transcends the design object. They actively explore universal knowledge and aesthetic principles beyond client briefs and functional demands. By translating design challenges into spaces with strong identity, SpActrum elevates design into the realm of pure knowledge through critical thinking and practice.
SpActrum aims to create an inspiring environment for AIRMIX, one that breaks from everyday experiences and sparks curiosity and imagination through bold, artistic expression. Aligning with the brand’s vision of enhancing life quality, the project offers fresh perspectives and innovative approaches to retail diversity and brand image development.
Project Drawings
△ Plan view
Analysis diagram of the concept “Bubbles in Space” © SpActrum Spectrum View
△ Shape generation diagram © SpActrum Spectrum View
△ Bubble 1: Diagram of the Altar © SpActrum Spectrum View
△ Bubble 2: Diagram of Wind Sail Display Cabinet © SpActrum Spectrum View
Project Information
Project Name: AIRMIX Lifestyle Concept Store
Location: Qujiang Creative Valley, Yanta District, Xi’an
Area: 240 square meters
Completion Date: March 2022
Client: Shaanxi Airport New Silk Road Trading Co., Ltd
Architectural Design: SpActrum Spectrum View
Lead Designer: Pan Yan
Design Team: Zhang Yijie, Li Zhen, Tang Yimeng, Wan Xiao, Wan Jinyu
Lighting Consultant: Sun Wei
Construction: Shaanxi Sanyi Construction Engineering Co., Ltd
Sculpture Installation: Xi’an Jiahongjing Cultural and Creative Co., Ltd
Terrazzo Flooring: Simos (Beijing Simos Technology Co., Ltd.)
Photography & Video Production: Yan Yu Architecture Photography
Drawings & Graphic Copyright: SpActrum Spectrum View
Lighting Supplier: Jiamei Lighting (Foshan Nanhai Jiamei Times Lighting Co., Ltd.)
Custom Steel Plate Fabrication: Jiahongjing (Xi’an Jiahongjing Cultural and Creative Co., Ltd.)
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