"Precious Boxes" German watchmaking in Port Adriano

On other occasions we have presented excellent works by Paloma and Jaime, and so is the following. We want to share with you the new space for the emblematic firm space "Relojeria Alemana" designed by OHLAB. The architects reflect on the luxury and they propose a game of appearances where the things are not what they seem using different materials. The new jewelry is composed of 5 Boxes Precious leaving spaces between them for possible temporary exhibitions. A really great project. j2b

German watchmaking in Port Adriano. Photography © José Hevia. Courtesy of OHLAB.

Memory of project

The new store for the legendary "Relojeria Alemana" is located in Port Adriano, the new marina recently designed by Philippe Starck in the southwest of Mallorca.

The program is compressed into five “Precious Boxes” -vip area, temporary art installations, outdoor lounge, backoffice and signage– leaving the space in between the volumes as an exhibition gallery. Three of the boxes are located inside the store and two more are outdoors extending the exhibition gallery to the terraces. Golden stainless steel plates with mirror finish cover the boxes. The assembly of the plates is made with a deformed set of joints deliberately curved in order to create small deformations on the surface of the boxes. These deformations create distorted images reflected on the boxes. The interior space, defined only by three glazed facades, features an intense and homogeneous lighting thanks to a matte white backlit textile ceiling that avoids reflections on the golden boxes while emphasizing the distortions.

Every box includes, in one of its corners, an eye-level horizontal reveal that creates a corner display: one side is by the glass facade working as a shop window while the other side opens to the interior of the store as an interior display. In the terrace, by the sea, there are two more boxes of different sizes. One is a lounge bed with an incorporated display and the other one features the only signage of the store.

The outcome is a collection of sculptural and abstract volumes reflecting a golden and slightly deformed environment. The project questions and reflects on the concept of luxury proposing a game of make-up and appearances –where things are not what they seem. Therefore, simple and orthogonal boxes that appear as undulated and distorted while the environment of the marina and the mega-yachts is reflected as glowing, complex and sublime…

Text: OHLAB.

CREDITS.-

Main architect.- OHLAB / Paloma Hernaiz, Jaime Oliver.
Team collaborators.- Rebeca Lavín, Walter Brandt, Marta Diego, James Hull; Decágono (furniture), Construcciones Torrens (building contractor), Ripoll Laser (Steel work and laser cut), Inoxincolor (steel supplier), Amer (blacksmith), Centro de Montajes (mechanical and lighting), Resyrok (tensed textile), Narro (carpenter), Cristalería Bellver (glazing).
Date.- 2012.
Project.- Relojería Alemana.
Site.- Sports harbor "Port Adriano", Mallorca, Spain.

Project honored as a finalist for the INTERIOR DESIGN 2012 Best of the Year Awards in New York City.

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Relojería Alemana in Port Adriano. Photography © José Hevia. Courtesy of OHLAB.German watchmaking in Port Adriano. Photography © José Hevia. Courtesy of OHLAB.

Interior view of German watchmaking in Port Adriano. Photography © José Hevia. Courtesy of OHLAB.

Vip area of German watchmaking in Port Adriano. Photography © José Hevia. Courtesy of OHLAB.

Ground floor. German watchmaking in Port Adriano. Courtesy of OHLAB.

Elevations of the cutting patterns of the different spaces. German watchmaking in Port Adriano. Courtesy of OHLAB.

Elevations of the cutting patterns of the different spaces and axonometry of the structural boxes. German watchmaking in Port Adriano. Courtesy of OHLAB.

Structural axonometry of the boxes. German watchmaking in Port Adriano. Courtesy of OHLAB.

Scheme. German watchmaking in Port Adriano. Courtesy of OHLAB.

Exploited axonometry. German watchmaking in Port Adriano. Courtesy of OHLAB.

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PALOMA HERNAIZ-JAIME OLIVER. OHLAB

Paloma Hernaiz and Jaime Oliver direct OHLAB, an office devoted to urban analysis and cultural research of contemporary society through design, architectural practice and urban strategy. Prior establishing OHLAB in Madrid they gained 9 years of professional experience in New York, Shanghai and Beijing collaborating in prestigious architectural offices such as OMA / Rem Koolhaas.

They received their diploma in Architecture from the ETSAM in Madrid (Paloma), ETSAB in Barcelona (Jaime) and they both hold a postgraduate degree (MSAAD) from Columbia University in New York. Paloma and Jaime are coordinating teachers at IED Design Degree in Madrid, they taught at “La Gran Escala” Master from UPC in Barcelona and have been critics at different design juries at Princeton and Columbia University in New York and at Universidad Europea in Madrid. They have given lectures about their work in various institutions such as Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya, Universidad Europea de Madrid, or Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.

In 2010 opened the first exhibition about OHLAB’s work at Magnus Müller Gallery, Berlin and subsequently at the Architecture Museum of Moscow. The exhibition was curated by Tina diCarlo, former curator of architecture and design at the New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

OHLAB has been nominated for the prestigious Mies van der Rohe Award 2011 (European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture), has been cataloged for the Arquia Proxima 2010/2011 prize (Fundación Caja de Arquitectos) and was finalist inthe 2010 Saloni Architecture Awards. Recently, OHLAB has also been selected as Finalist for the INTERIOR DESIGN 2012 Best of the Year Awards in New York City.

Paloma Hernaiz received her diploma in Architecture from the ETSAM in Madrid and Master of Science in Adv. Arch. Design degree from Columbia University in New York. Following her diploma she worked in the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in London pursuing historical research.

Prior establishing her own office she gained 9 years of professional experience in architectural offices of different countries where she had the opportunity of pursuing projects of very different scales and requirements. In Madrid she collaborated with Estudio Lamela / Richard Rogers Partnership; in New York she was working with G-tects where she collaborated with the office of Frank O. Gehry; in China she worked in Shanghai and Beijing at the Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA).

Jaime Oliver received his diploma in Architecture from the ETSAB in Barcelona (Final Thesis with Honors) and Master of Science in Adv. Arch. Design degree from Columbia University in New York. He studied for a year at the Institut Supérieur d'Architecture CF in Brussels with an Erasmus Grant and he received "La Caixa" Scholarship awarding him a full grant to the Columbia University Postgraduate Program.

Prior establishing his own office he gained 9 years of professional experience in architectural offices of different countries where he had the opportunity of pursuing projects of very different scales and requirements. In New York he collaborated with the offices of DNA and Hariri & Hariri; In China he worked in Shanghai and Beijing at the Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). He is a PhD candidate at the ETSAB (DEA and pre-thesis approved).