Frame 05-06

EXECUTIONAL

Best Use

of Material

BERLIN BAR BY THILO REICH

Thilo Reich’s ‘less than obvious’ material

choices for Berlin Bar in Moscow scored

top marks with the jury.

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MOSCOW – When Atelier Archi@Mos-

phere’s designers presented Station Neo,

a shared office for tech start-ups in South

Korea, they wowed the jury with their com-

mitment to the extravagant use of a single

material – polycarbonate panels – to create

seemingly floating, overlapping boxes. But

the jury wondered how this concept would

behave in a dusty environment. How is the

use of the space integrated? ‘The key element

in this project is the construction method,

rather than the material,’ said Masquespa-

cio’s Ana Milena Hernández Palacios. Note

Design Studio’s sophisticated use of flooring

materials for Tarkett’s trade-fair stand was

acknowledged, but remained within the lim-

its of predictability. Beautiful but conserva-

tive, agreed the jury. Curiosity’s impressive

all-marble store design felt misplaced in this

category. ‘Marble is an expertise,’ said Benoit

Steenackers of Hermès. ‘This project should

file for craftsmanship.’

The project that did receive rave

reviews was Thilo Reich’s Berlin Bar in

Moscow. The jury called it ‘a space with

things to discover’ that’s ‘loaded with

historical references’. They drew attention

to the ‘reuse of materials and elements in a

meaningful, new way’ and applauded Thilo

Reich for making ‘less than obvious choices’.

What may have been the deciding factor

was that the designers based those choices

on the correct narrative and the correct

use of materials – the Berlin-based bar was

never too cliché, too univocal or too gim-

micky. ‘The original Berlin lights reappear

in Moscow like flying sheets,’ said Sabine

Marcelis. ‘It’s the process of interpretation

and investigation of the existing pavement

and the way they twisted its use that makes

this project truly stand out,’ advocated

Hernández Palacios, before giving the floor

to Bethan Laura Wood: ‘It’s the totality that

makes it a great space.’ – AO

thiloreich.com

PEOPLE'S VOTE

Berlin Bar by Thilo Reich

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