UETA World Duty Free, San Ysidro

The design strategy capitalizes on marketing principles of the “window display” while concurrently using architectonic forms to produce a sensitive urban retail boutique at the most crossed international border.

The red-granite arched loggia, in front of inset glass display bays, serves as a facade to the plaza, a circulation path to the border, and a frame for the appreciation of products. Likewise, the freestanding, multi-colored ceramic tile arch frames the projecting display boxes of the main building as well as the composition of architecture.