A study in pink: The Moco Concept Store manifests the digital to the physical

What would an exercise in intangible digital spaces maturing into physical ones look like, and what would its tangible experience entail?

A study and vision in pastel pink, the first physical and permanent space designed for the Moco Museum in Barcelona, Spain, is nothing less than a bubblegum daydream—conceived by Six N. Five, the award-winning art studio led by Argentinian designer Ezequiel Pini in collaboration with interior designer and architect Isern Serra. The Moco Concept Store is a 'real-life transposition of a virtual concept' with the retail design, designed as a space that brings new ideas to life—'because when you feel good, you do good.' Isn’t that right?

With no sharp lines or edges in sight, the Moco Concept Store is a palpable 'lab' that stimulates connections and fosters self-expression, according to its creators. It is a host, hub, and playground for exclusive collaborations, linking multiple disciplines and interests across art, design, fashion, and lifestyle. Revolving collections of unique items that behold the power of art and reflect our contemporary times are housed aplenty within the store, against organic displays with backlit illumination. “Each object is carefully selected to enrich your environment or lifestyle and enlighten your state of mind. To the art lover, activist, innovator, and collector—meet us at the Moco Concept Store,” shares the museum.

Located in the cultural-historical mecca, at the heart of El Born, at c / Montcada 25 in Barcelona, the Moco Museum is innovative and inclusive and dedicates itself to contemporary art (hence the name), exhibiting artists such as Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Dalí, Damien Hirst, Kaws, Tracey Emin, JR, OsGemeos, Icy & Sot, Stik, and Banksy. Moco Museum Barcelona entrusted its new space to Six N. Five, to pursue the concept of “exploring the most up-to-date and cutting-edge forms of artistic expression” through the dreamy store’s conception.

Specialising in digital art despite working across disciplines, Six N. Five is a multidisciplinary design studio creating surreal imagery, films, objects, spaces and environmental design that follows their signature clean aesthetic, refined imagination, and poetic compositions, created by engaging with the latest technologies that help investigate and experiment. Their latest endeavour brings to life new ideas in an immersive world that celebrates artistic activity through a carefully selected collection of sustainable products and limited-edition art pieces from modern and contemporary names.

Six N. Five is known for employing digital tools and CGI (computer-generated imagery) to craft these minimal, surreal and tranquil environments, of pastel-hued dreamscapes and vibrant, 'unthinkable architectures that allude to the endless possibilities of this ever-evolving digital tool,' making them one of the most recognised digital creative practices in the contemporary digital art scene.

The Moco Museum's Founder and Creative Director, Kim Logchies-Prins shares her fascination and inclusion of pink for the store’s interior design with STIR, as well as the concept store’s intent—“Pink stands for universal love, it stands for Moco, and we will always be pink. The intent is always to bring art to the public. We see many beautiful books and products that are art related, and not just focused on Moco. We believe this is interesting for a broader audience. When you live in Barcelona and you are looking for that special gift, the Moco Concept Store is the place for you.”

The aesthetically pleasing entrance comprises a rectangular glass door with rounded edges beside an organic, onigiri-shaped one, offering a curated glimpse of the powder pink, dreamy interiors of the concept store that exudes controlled drama. A simple yet adept compositional dexterity accompanies the pastel pink insides of the retail store design that dedicates itself to freshness and innovation, embodying the Moco DNA through sustainable products and limited-edition art pieces from modern and contemporary creative masters and rising stars. Located next door to the Moco Museum in Barcelona, the Moco Concept Store is blessed with a calming atmosphere evocative of the future, unlike most commercial designs.

The materialisation of the project is a continuation of the research conducted by Six N. Five since being founded in 2014. “Curiosity is the starting point for exploring different disciplines at the edge of design and art, digital and reality,” shares Pini, defining the genesis of the store’s design.

Turning a digital dream into a physical reality

In Moco’s words—“Through creativity, we can shape a new reality. We are all co-creators of this new world.”

This collaboration between the museum and the Barcelona-based studio germinated at Art Basel 2022, last June—Six N. Five was asked by Moco to collaborate on designing the bespoke NetJets Collectors Lounge—the first example of one of its digital spaces evolving into the physical. Along with custom furniture designs and collectable pieces designed by Six N. Five, the studio exhibited significant digital artworks that bestowed the space with a 'futuristic perspective.'

The Moco Concept Store followed suit, beginning with the same curious idea as the NetJets Lounge, with distinct characteristics to accommodate a different function and a permanent usage, in this case. The concept, according to Pini and Logchies-Prins, was to construct a contemporary design as “a dedicated space with an overarching commercial purpose and encapsulate the mission of the museum: to be inclusive, enlightening, inspiring and empowering by making art accessible to all. The Moco Concept Store welcomes visitors within a space defined by innovation, where contemporary creativity is ubiquitous—subtle pink hues and curvilinear forms undulate, distinct stylistic characteristics synonymous with the CGI dreamscapes of the studio.”

Six N. Five’s collaboration with Serra is set to transform these digital creations and elements into a tangible reality, as an experiential environment that remained tethered between both, the real and unreal. "When you are challenged to explore the unknown and things that have never been done, you are moved to do what has not been done before. One of the things that thrill me the most is being able to create new spaces and experiences through images, videos, and virtual reality that allow us to imagine something different from what we are used to. The Moco Concept Store represented an interesting challenge, as I had to combine the purpose of the store with actual architecture remaining true to our original dreamy world I had built in CGI, but these concepts were able to go one level further, both in decisions and execution, thanks to Isern Serra who brought his extraordinary talent and experience,” the award-winning designer and digital artist elaborates.

So why was it essential for Moco to create an unreal space to display and sell art? “One of the best parts of our job and life is meeting artists, visiting their studios, and getting to know them. Our two Moco Museums embrace the historic architecture of both Barcelona and Amsterdam to welcome visitors for years to come. This allowed for the perfect time and opportunity to work with Ezequiel Pini of Six N. Five, culminating in a surreal yet very real space,” Logchies-Prins tells STIR. “I think we should all try to find better ways and new ways to shape a better tomorrow. To play with old concepts and bring new forms that bend and curve like round walls to reflect this new way of thinking and collaborating,” she continues.

“For more than a year now, we have worked with NFTs and welcomed the futuristic possibilities of digital art. We trusted in our collaboration to turn this digital dream into a physical reality, and this was something we wanted to share with visitors. We understand many of them will simply look and enjoy this unique space without purchasing something. What we are here for is to inspire,” she concludes.