PROJECT INFO

Scope: Gallery Design, Tenant Improvement

Location: City of Beverly Hills

Size: 1,500 sf

Status: Finished Construction

IIDA, Calibre Design Award

IIDA, Will Ching Award

PROJECT description: 

Gallery 19C is a representation of a cross-section of history at the helm of art as a painted medium. This epoch, untethered by the advent of new media, mainly film and television presented spectators with journeys in possible times and space. As impressionist and expressionist movements marked a sharp and radical departure from realist techniques, they returned to social realism as their subject. This, in turn, presented a complete repeal in the history of the medium, projecting itself as a paradigm shift. Aligning ourselves with this essential notion of departure, the concept for the gallery materialized with an interest in creating a background to amplify the presence and appearance of the historic artwork. True to our epoch, this notion has been the subject of contemporary art, as seen in the works of Dutch artist Hendrik Kerstens and in a catalog of works by artists like Jeff Koons’ “gazing ball”.

While bringing attention to the art, the project endures creating a stark and minimal aesthetic by delivering an environment that is materially incorporeal. The Future Garment will serve as a garment for cloaking the space or a “tablecloth” providing the backdrop for the subject of the art, a technique mastered by the bravado of Impressionism Paul Cézanne.

The wall paneling of the gallery is created as a vogue concept to classical wainscoting. These panels present opportunities for displaying art as a precious and unique artifact. The size and stacking of these panels allow for the arrangement of artwork in multiple configurations, including stacked “Salon Style”, the prevalent style of art display until the late 19th Century.

Gallery 19C is a portfolio of rare impressionist artwork from the turn of the 19th Century. True to a radical departure in impressionist art and borrowed from the bedroom in "2001: A Space Odyssey", the design provides a stark aesthetic by delivering an environment that is materially incorporeal with the advent of diffused fabric lighting and hidden technologies in order to highlight the historic artwork, yet weaving the past and the future with nuances like digital floor and wainscoting patterns.

Our initial investigation revealed a 25 ft high cavity at the perimeter of the space that was covered by low hanging uniform ceiling tiles. By taking advantage of this cavity with a black gradient, we granted the space a sense of vertical infinitude, otherwise lost.

The Gallery, although for-profit, serves as a beacon of contemplation into the world of art in the epicenter of what would otherwise be a commercially driven setting. We had also applied and exceeded energy conservation measures that would ultimately benefit the environment at large.

 BE29