TUI SHOWROOM

This 5000 sq. ft. space on a high profile corner of Miami's Design District is kept open and loft like, austere, and sensual. Its shallow pools of water surrounding the space creates an island-like structure. The water element also connects the space to its location (Miami Beach), and creates an environment that transforms and transcends the very idea of a showroom.

The aim here is to create an environment that celebrates both the culture and the architecture of Miami which is alive, relaxed, exhibitionistic and voyeuristic. The concept of display and the idea of see-and-be-seen, is explored by blurring the threshold between private and public, inside and outside, and object and subject. Keeping the space empty and quiet allows the whole showroom to be transformed into a stage for exhibition and spectatorship.

On the exterior, the windows wrap around the space and complete the street-corner, displaying "TUI" and allowing the showroom to be a large vitrine. This extended horizontal curtain wall offers continuity to the street and is juxtaposed by a vertical double story entrance portal.

The main element of the interior is a fifty-feet long wall of concrete and wood, containing the reception desk, display area, and a narrow pool of water. This wall not only embraces the visitors upon entering the space, but also serves as the main backdrop for the displayed objects. Complementing this prominent wall are the floating-platforms over the pools of water along the edge. They not only display objects & furniture, but also offer seating and a stage for performers of different events. This experimental environment and overlapping of programs, where showroom, club, theatre, and performance space became one, was examined at variety of events where dancers entertained the viewers and spectators both on the in-side and out-side of the box.