The Watchmaker

Όνομα Εταιρείας: E. Papachristou Architects L.L.C

Αρχιτέκτονας: Eraclis Papachristou, E. Papachristou Architects L.L.C

Aριθμός Εγγραφής Αρχιτέκτονα
Μητρώο ΕΤΕΚ: A072285

We spend so much of our lives trying to dismiss time and yet have a fascination with the recording of it. The instruments are various but there is nothing quite like the mechanism of the watch and its delicate mechanisms, coils and minute cogs. The watchmaker himself is an almost mythical figure, immersed in a world of the intricate and the impossibly small.
Out of this comes the design for the Konstantyn Boyajian watch shop.

As with many such situations this is a case of inhabiting an existing shell. It is a question of carving out a spatial experience while already having the form in your hands.

The design, which revolves about the individual item of the watch has placed them in a cavern of practically seamless black marble. The pale veins within its surface describe a bundle of energy that infuses the depths of the space with a positive entanglement.

As one happens to pass by on the street the volume of black marble, with its carefully hollowed out fenestration, draws you in. There is little more than a suggestion of what awaits inside but, the shop window display provides a couple of appropriate clues. Little light but very specific objects within it. The whole thing is an event from the very outset.
Within is a small space that takes on the quality of a cavernous enormity, monumental and yet so carefully described. It works as a backdrop, a deliberate contrast to the smaller world of the individual watch.

Bridging these scales is a forest of solid, square marble columns that descend from the ceiling and ascend from the floor. They never quite meet. Instead, within the tangible tension of the void suggested are located the pristine glass cases that house the essence of the entire exercise. If ever an object was pinned to a space, it is here.

These small display cases become the focus in an immense world of black. The weight of everything about them, the absolute nature of heaving marble and diffuse light allow these small pockets of light and object to draw the visitor closer.
Secluded and deftly excluded from this experience of contrasts is the small, isolated space within which the watchmaker himself works. Utilising the existing mezzanine, but sealing it off from the world downstairs, allows for the almost monastic discipline required to work the watch.

The access to it has been deliberately hidden away, so as not to withdraw from the theatrical experience of the main space. Practicalities like storage have been absorbed into this, allowing the main space to maintain its minimal quality.
The result is a space that feels potent, that is rich with a sense of event and yet manages to reduce itself to the pivotal point of the individual enjoying, zooming in on the specific target, the watch. Small pockets of space are carved out for small conversations and contemplations that are so important in making that decision, regarding this contemplation of time.