However bullish the economic climate, even the toniest retailers rarely fork over $40 million for a flagship store. But the new Prada in Manhattan's SoHo district isn't a store, it's a 23,000- square-foot epicenter, the place where the tectonic plates of merchandising and architecture collide and the earth moves—or so goes the plan. The epicenter concept for Prada grew out of a two-month research project in which Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and his Rotterdam-based firm, the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), investigated ways to reinvent the retail experience for the famous Italian fashion house.

Now, take a walk through this amazing interior. Plus see the people and products behind the making of this project.

Click below to access the walkthroughs. Note: You will need Quicktime to view the walkthrough, which can be dow loaded for free at the Quicktime website.

All photography for walk-throughs and movie shot by Susannah Shepherd