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Jan 1999 Ethereal glass walls enclosing the listening / viewing room present an effective visual merchandising ploy when a product demonstration is in progress as the screen in the viewing room is immediately visible from outside the shop
A cozy focal area sets off a slender amplifier unit flanked by sleek twin speaker towers. The customized stainless steel and granite consol table is to compliment the amplifier's silver form
These swivel chairs give easy access to the screen or the audio equipment in a small room. The angled ceiling detail is echoed by the pleated textures of a gypsum board panel on the right adds interest to the room. The back wall which faces the front entrance was simply painted over in a mouse-gray tone and finished off with a separate, whitewashed concrete canvas for the screen
The glass wall behind the window display is a feature to reflect Swiss precision craftsmanship of the Hi-Fi components. A stainless steel mesh is sandwiched between two glass sheets and finished with a stainless steel frame and silver leafed mullions |
S P A R S E B U T S O U N D "The sparseness of his installations focuses attention on each object'. At Revox, American Ed Poole pays tribute to the genius of German architect Mies van der Rohe. Helen Lee tunes in. Asked to sum up the idea for the Revox showroom, American architect Ed Poole from Poole Associates credits Mies van Der Rohe as an indelible design influence in his career. He singles out a quote from a book on the renowned architect by Philip Johnson which describes Mies' exhibition installation at the Werkbund Exposition of 1927: 'The sparseness of his installations focuses attention on each object and makes the arrangement of objects all important. A minimum of stands, cases and partitions are disposed with studied exactness to achieve the maximum individual and total effect'. Welcome to the Revox showroom for audio home entertainment systems from Switzerland. Poole has taken the traditionally uninspiring concept of a home entertainment system showroom apart and stripped it down to a gallery of clear, crisp and clean pockets of space demarcated by a wall of glass. These spaces are considered and configured to reflect the precision engineered design and quality of the components they were meant to showcase as well as to simulate home environments and to maximize space constraints. 'The average living room does not have acoustical treatments like wall padding', explained Poole, 'so we veered away from those fancy fittings which in consequence would also enable people to judge the true representation of the visual and sound systems'. Ethereal glass walls front the 750 square feet showroom which is divided into two sections - the window display reception lobby and another glass walled listening / viewing room at the back. Like the transparent depths of a diamond, the glass walls present an effective visual merchandising ploy when a product demonstration is in progress because the screen in the viewing room is immediately visible from the corridor. Elements of a home interior like warm maple wood floors, accent lighting and sleek curtains are a refreshing reinterpretation of other run-of-the-mill home entertainment system showrooms with muted lighting, monochromatic carpets, dark padded sound rooms and hi-fi's stacked up on shelves. Instead, Revox's compact and streamlined amplifiers, CD players and speaker towers are exhibited like works of art amidst home settings thoughtfully decorated with paintings on loan from Wetterling-Teo Gallery and the occasional potted orchid. The neutral color scheme of silk curtains, silver brown marble counter top, warm wood floors and gray carpets complement the exclusive product range which comes in black, white, silver and gray in addition to a wood selection. Left of the shop front is a theatrical window display of slim speaker towers highlighted with accent lighting and set off by creamy curtains by New York fabric designer Gretchen Bellinger. Dramatically suspended from fine, silver chains, these curtains outline the varying heights of the sleek, compact forms of the Hi-Fi components and as Poole divulged, is a reinvention of Mies' exhibition installation for silk at the 'Exposition de la Mode' in 1927 Berlin. Behind this curtain is a cozy focal point for displaying a slender amplifier unit flanked by sleek twin speaker towers. A painting overlooks a planar silver leaf console table which was specially custom-made to set off the silver form of the amplifier. The glass viewing room lies right at the back of the showroom. Ever mindful of the various realities and constraints of an actual home interior, Poole has the back wall which faces the front entrance simply painted over in a mouse-gray tone and finished off with a separate, whitewashed concrete canvas for the screen. Project Team: Click images for larger view Photography : Peter Mealin Update 2003 : This shop is now closed |
