Yehya sells watches and jewelry. The moving to a new location in Verdun is the occasion to reflect on notions of time, spatial sequence and the cinematic.
The ground level presents the necessarily small items of jewelry or watches in oversized displays that are almost architectural in scale but very subtle in their -mostly transparent- presence. On the rhythmical shelving behind the glass, time is flowing.
The mezzanine level on the other hand is the occasion of a more intimate encounter with selected jewels of the clock industry where unique watches are presented in smaller scale showcases, like in a museum, with a singular beam of light coming from an invisible source, for every item, time counted.
The palette: a neutral concrete grey, gunmetal steel, chrome connectors and darkened walnut combine in dark shades reminiscent of a precious tourbillon chronograph. The neutrality of those textures, in particular the multi-layered concrete finish of the walls, serves to create the stark background that will contrast the often sparkling items on display. On the ceiling, architecture disappears completely trimless and pitch black, time suspended.
Across floors, in addition to the watches as the main visual interest, time-related art pieces cinematically interconnect the ground level to the mezzanine. They offers a show to the passer-by on the street, day and night, time extended…
Project Status: Built.
Designed by Karim Nader with Iyad abou Gaida, Karen Madi and Christy Layous.
Contracting by Intramuro.
Photography by Marwan Harmouche.