Monday, October 11, 2010

Elisabeth Bonifield John Lewis and Electrodes

Nick Dine is a New York based designer who specializes in Interior Architecture and product design. Electrodes is a shelving system that Nick Dine designed in 2003. Nick Dine’s philosophy in designing this shelving system was functionally utility. He is known for his pop art inspiration. The system is made of powder coated steel. They come in short, long and zig-zag formations.



The John Lewis department store was designed by Foreign Office Architects (FOA). FOA is one of the most innovative practices with a fascination with the interplay of architecture, landscape, and nature. The design of the department store is centered around a “skin” that is composed of a patterned fabric that lets in natural light. There is a mirror in between the two layers making the tiles seem more dense than they actually are. Viewed frontally from the retail floors, the double façade aligns to allow views out, whilst an oblique view from street level displaces the two patterns and creates a moiré effect, reducing visibility and maximizing privacy performance, and increasing visual complexity. The resulting envelope is a translucent and reflective ‘net curtain’ via which the interior and exterior engage with the context in varying ways.

The Cineplex needs to be a sealed box, detached from natural light. This part of the building is enveloped in an opaque stainless steel mirror finish rain screen, with pleats along the perimeter introducing intricacy to the enclosure. It is clad in 10,300 small, steel shingles whose thinness transmits a quilted affect and varies and localizes surface reflections. The pleats, shingles and mirror finish provide shadow, texture and color, while the play of light on the surface creates continuously shifting patterns. The opaque envelope is therefore transformed to a ‘theatrical curtain’ whose performance is relative to its exterior.







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