Amorepacific Creatives - AVANT-GARTE, AN EXQUISITE SENSE OF SCENT, CONTINUITY

Summary

While brand communication has long shifted from offline to online, there are experiences that can only be conveyed in person. Scent, texture, air, atmosphere, and the quality of sound are among them. [story A] is a space that experiments with ways to tell brand stories through exhibitions that heighten these senses to their fullest. A space for extraordinary experiences, presenting a new theme each month — for its inaugural exhibition, Longtake brings you a story of forests and fragrance.

AVANT-GARTE, AN EXQUISITE SENSE OF SCENT, CONTINUITY Longtake, 향과 지속성에 관한 예민한 감각 展

story A

The pandemic has transformed the role of offline spaces. As the desire for social interaction — long suppressed by social distancing — seeks an outlet, the importance of physical spaces as a “場” (place of gathering) has grown. Not merely a space to experience products, but a stage for extraordinary, out-of-the-ordinary encounters. In an era where the online world has become ever more embedded in daily life, Gen Z — true digital natives — are paradoxically expressing a stronger desire for digital detox. story A aims to establish a presence in districts frequented by the MZ generation, unveiling a new story each month and sparking genuine response. Through story A, the Creative Center seeks to build a platform of its own — one that communicates the core of our brands and products in a sensory, impactful way, rooted in our creativity and artistic vision.

SITE

Securing the right location — finding the perfect “stage” — was one of the most critical tasks in the early planning stages of story A. After visiting over 20 properties across Hannam, Yongsan, Sinsa, and Apgujeong, a basement space in Hannamdong was ultimately selected. A neighborhood shaped by fashion brands, concept stores, galleries, and cafés, Hannamdong offered a distinct local character and a high concentration of the MZ generation. Though basement spaces are generally avoided for their lack of street visibility, they allow complete control over light — making it possible to maximize the contrast between outside and within, and to immerse visitors fully in an out-of-the-ordinary experience.

Brand-Longtake

Evoking a deep forest untouched by human presence — and the trees within it, steeped in a tranquil, enduring fragrance — Longtake carries the memory of the forest through sensorial, calming woody scents. At the heart of the brand lies a premium fragrance born from an artisan’s quiet dedication, the layered life of time-worn trees, and a commitment to sustainability. Named after the filmmaking technique of an unusually long, uninterrupted shot, Longtake embodies that same philosophy: long-lasting fragrance, enduring efficacy, and a sustained commitment to sustainability, grounded in sincere and meticulous research.

Exhibition Ideation

The theme of the ‘forest’ — the origin of Longtake’s scent — was clear from the start. But translating it into something that felt like an exhibition rather than a brand retail space required a different kind of thinking. Even with a defined theme, the images each person envisioned were entirely different. And given the constraints of a low-ceilinged basement and the realities of on-site installation, recreating a lush forest scene with real trees was simply not an option. The answer, it turned out, lay in the real forest itself. The team ventured out on an unplanned visit to a forest in search of inspiration — and it was there, experiencing the sight of a single ray of light falling upon a tree standing deep within a dark and silent wood, that the direction became clear. The idea of recreating light filtering through the trees using lighting design was adopted, and from there the concept grew more concrete: the dimness and dampness of entering a dense forest, the cool air, the shimmering play of light, the texture felt underfoot — each sensation carefully considered and translated into the space.

A towering tree standing deep within a dark forest. While the team was still searching for ways to bring this idea to life, a connection through an acquaintance led them to a sawmill in Yeosu. They traveled down immediately, and there — at a sawmill beside the sea — they came face to face with a collection of magnificent old trees. Logs stretching over twenty meters, arranged in solemn rows like a guard of honor. The cross-sections revealed ring upon ring of growth, each layer a quiet testament to the passage of time. Moved by the sight, the team decided to acquire one among them: a hundred-year-old red pine, brought all the way from New Zealand.

Floor Plan

The flow of story A moves through a sequence of spaces: entrance → stairway descent → exhibition hall → shop → exit. After planning what each space would hold, the concept was developed further through floor plan and elevation sketches. In the exhibition hall, lighting and video projections fall upon the cross-section of the large old tree, setting the mood for the entire space. Bark covers the floor, giving visitors the tactile sensation of walking through a forest — and infused with Longtake’s fragrance, it allows the scent to diffuse softly through the cool darkness. The shop is designed as a space to discover and explore the brand: brand films and visual assets are displayed alongside the full product lineup, inviting visitors to learn about Longtake and try the products for themselves.

Inside the exhibition

Guided by the deep scent of sandalwood, you move through the exhibition and into the air of the forest that inspired Longtake. Through its core imagery — forest, trees, and clock — the exhibition tells a story of fragrance and permanence. A hundred-year-old tree, light, analog objects, and digital media art form scenes that, like Longtake’s scent, do not quickly fade. They linger, slowly settling deep within memory. Descending the staircase into the dim space, a cool stillness greets you — as though stepping into the hours before dawn. Leaving the faint light of the outside world behind, a rich scent rises to meet you. Longtake’s forest begins.

At the heart of the forest, the gentle clicking of an old slide projector stirs a quiet sense of nostalgia. Slowly, the artisan’s research unfolds — a sequence of images that give visual form to the distinctive scents of sandalwood, black tea, and fig.

Put on a headset and look into the monitor: the sound waves of birdsong from the forest trace expanding circles, like a compass drawing its arc, leaving behind a trail of rings — echoing the growth rings of a tree. On one side of the exhibition space, an oversized clock turns slowly, without a sound. Just as a tree grows with time, its rings accumulating year by year, the fragrance of the forest layers itself into memory — a quiet, symbolic expression of permanence. Atop the old tree before the clock, sawdust carrying the soft scent of sandalwood is gathered in a small mound. Visitors are welcome to scoop some into the cloth pouches provided, and carry a trace of Longtake’s fragrance with them as they leave.

At the far edge of the forest, stepping into the second space where light begins to filter through, an OHP (Overhead Projector) comes into view, resting atop the grand old tree. Visitors can place pre-printed images on transparent film onto the projector, or write down their own memories and project them onto the screen — capturing and carrying away their own memory of the forest.

As time passes, the light within the forest shifts slowly, casting the space in an ever-changing atmosphere.

Store Design

Leaving the forest behind and following the light, a curtain parts to reveal the Longtake store tucked within. This space is designed around the theme of an artisan’s workshop — a room that feels as though shaped by careful, unhurried hands. Here, visitors can explore and sample the full range of Longtake products, and take home the ones that speak to them.

The store occupies what was once the kitchen of a restaurant that operated in the space before story A. Rather than applying new finishes, the existing tile surfaces were simply cleaned and left as found. Where some tiles had been removed, the mortar once used to set them was kept intact, its texture preserved as it was. This approach — eliminating unnecessary process — felt like the right way to carry the traces of time into the space: the quiet accumulation of years that defines an artisan’s practice. Even the imagery of raw fragrance ingredients was rendered not from photographs, but from hand-drawn sketches, deepening the concept of the space and bringing its character into sharper focus.

Behind story

At the heart of this exhibition is the effect of light falling upon the massive old trees. To maximize the impact, exceptionally large pieces were sourced — but moving them into the basement proved to be a considerable challenge. With no elevator and an extremely narrow staircase, getting the logs down required ingenuity. A plywood slope was constructed along the stairway, and the logs were rolled down one by one, slowly and carefully. In the end, all thirty-odd pieces made it safely into the space.

Once all the logs were in place, long-pin lighting fixtures were sourced through a lighting supplier found after scouting Cheonggyecheon on foot. But with the ceiling so low, the light cast a circle far smaller than the circumference of the logs themselves — and the edges were so sharply defined that it read unmistakably as artificial light. To widen the spread of light and give it the natural quality of sunlight filtering through trees in a forest, a solution was devised: attaching a concave lens to diffuse the beam. Camera shops were searched without luck — but the answer turned out to be a concave lens found at a science supply store, for just 2,000 won.

Before concave lens installation

After concave lens installation

The clock — chosen as an exhibition element to embody the idea of permanence — presented a challenge: its oversized hand would have required significant cost to function as an actual timepiece. But what mattered was not a hand that kept precise time, rather one that turned steadily and continuously. This thinking led the team through a progression of ideas — from a low-speed motor used in farming equipment, to a mirror ball motor — ultimately arriving at a solution that was both sturdy and remarkably affordable.

After gallery market

The After Gallery Market is an event where props, objects, and furnishings from the exhibition are sold rather than discarded — conceived as part of story A’s commitment to sustainable creative practice. After the exhibition closed, the market ran for four days online and offline. Ten log pieces were sold, the floor bark was given away freely, and the remaining logs were kept in storage for future use. Each piece sold has since found a new life elsewhere — as a table, an object of décor — continuing its story in a different place.