Vienna’s walls came down to the rhythm of Strauss waltzes. Valencia’s, to the beat of taurine fiestas. And like the Ringstrasse, even without its grandeur, the paseo de ronda that replaced the ramparts of the Mediterranean city became a vibrant trade artery. A hinge between the medieval core and its Cerdá-influenced extension, Colón is now one of Valencia’s busiest avenues, and a recent addition to its commercial offer is the flagship store of a young fashion line of clothes and accessories, designed to create a neutral setting for the brand’s collections.

A grid divides the establishment into nine identical areas, and while these are clearly delimited by thick partitions, large openings arranged in an enfilade link them up in a fluid series: a parti of palace reminiscences deployed around a robust staircase of red microterrazzo, the only spark of color in an austere intervention. Finally, display volumes serve to organize the rooms, and a cladding of local stone frames the transitions between them, thresholds shoppers cross not realizing they are stepping from one space into another.