Design department opens innovative retail design studio in the KÖ Galerie

The Design Department of the Peter Behrens School of Arts at Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences has opened the ‘Retail Design StudioKÖ’ in Düsseldorf's KÖ Galerie. The project, which is part of Germany's only Retail Design degree programme, transforms a 150 m² vacant space on the first floor into a multifunctional room that serves as an exhibition space, event location, teaching room and workplace for students.

The project is being developed in collaboration with renowned partners from the business world: the AGPU MEDIA association, furniture manufacturer Wilkhahn, flooring manufacturer FOTOBODEN and lighting manufacturer RZB.

‘Retail is the third largest sector of the German economy, worth €631.9 billion,’ explains Prof. Bernhard Franken, course director for Retail Design at the Design Department of the Peter Behrens School of Arts. "However, brick-and-mortar retail is increasingly migrating to digital platforms. As a result, junk retail threatens to take over city centres and leave suburban areas and small towns desolate. But this change is an opportunity to repurpose the vacant space for cultural, social, medical or educational uses, thereby promoting a vibrant public life. Our goal is to make retail design relevant to the city and society. As retail designers, we engage in urban discourse with stakeholders from politics, business and culture, as well as citizens and their interests, in order to shape the future of the city."

Alexander Balzer, Centre Manager of KÖ Galerie, explains: "With Retail Design StudioKÖ, we are creating a place of innovation right in one of Germany's most prestigious locations. This collaboration shows how educational institutions and retail properties can explore new avenues together. The studio offers the retail industry a platform for discourse and reflection, but above all for exploring, developing and sounding out new possibilities."
The studio is intended to serve as a prototype for the transformation of retail properties – from pure retail spaces to vibrant mixed-use spaces. Despite the immense economic importance of retail, the industry has been underrepresented from an academic perspective.