“In-sight”a new concept store designed by OHLAB located in Downtown Miami.
On the facade of the store are two red interlaced circles that represent binoculars, the logo of the brand. Looking through these ‘binoculars’ and into the interior, there are 24 white panels that have been placed throughout the length of the store to create a tunnel. At the end of the space, a graphic panel features a trompe d’oleil creating an illusion of continuity beyond the limits of the store.
The gaps between each of the panels have a range of uses, like product display, storage or seating, which can all be integrated in the design. Also, by having the panels and floor white in color, it allows the products to stand out and be noticed.
OHLAB is a duo created thanks to a communion of souls which realised their aptness to work together after having met at the University of Columbia, New York. Jaime Oliver (Mallorca) and Paloma Hernaiz (Madrid) ran into their fate almost without looking for it. Today, they make up a perfect architectonic team which is changing our habits by following the beat of time and by enhancing the influence their discipline has to instil into society.
“We do not know very well who comes up with an idea at first. We work so naturally that we do not even realize that part since we unconsciously continue with the working process. Ultimately, it is a way of working that is defined by the work itself”, explains Jaime Oliver. Perhaps this phrase summarizes and encloses the symbiotic atmosphere surrounding these two “connected vessels” we can feel in the air during our meeting in their studio in Palma. Mallorca became their home, a creative haven for these two restless globetrotters who have decided to move to the island after years spent in Madrid in order to find a “balance”.
After starting their common path with a research project in Asia for the University of Columbia, they decided to stay in Shanghai. “We visited twenty cities in South-eastern Asia with the idea of returning to New York to present our final project, but we did not return. We stayed in Shanghai. The Olympic Games 2008 were about to be held in China, and back then it was the most interesting place in the world. The closest thing to what should have been New York in the seventies”, jokes Paloma. “There, we worked on several projects for various offices. Including OMA owned by Rem Koolhaas, which helped us a lot”, they both confess.
Today, after years of ups and downs, projects in Asia, the USA, Latin America and in Europe, OHLAB describes itself as “a studio dedicated to urban research and cultural analysis of contemporary society through design, architecture and urban strategy”
Photography by Patricia Parinejad
