3d Molded terrazzo bar at The Schirn Kunstahalle’s TABLE
Looking at classic Milanese bars, being fascinated by their great combination of function and expression, we looked for an industrial way to create such a bar as an independent element. A product we can pre-fabricate and assemble on-site, as well as extend and change according to needs.
After an extensive analysis of the bar itself -its functional and conceptual demands, we translated it into the production possibilities and the fascinating heavy weight world of Terrazzo molding.
It was an intensive product development process in which we learned a lot about the feasibility and control we can or can’t have on the material and form. On constructing molds that would carry over a ton and then effortlessly release the fresh molded pieces. Like working with any natural materials we had to be very attentive to what it ‘asks’ and in return offers.
Its size, relative surface fragility and weight, meant that not only the feasibility of production needed to be taken into consideration, but also the transport and on-site assembly. Special tools and solutions needed to be developed and constructed for the complex onsite operation of handling and mounting these super heavyweight elements.
One such solution was devising a tall and peculiar looking three wheeled trolley to carry and positioned the single bar sections, A perfectly functioning ad-hoc object which functioned perfectly and proved itself invaluable.
Thirty-nine three-dimensional sections of dark green terrazzo construct the entire bar. It is the central element in the space and wraps around a staircase leading to the upper and lower floors.
With a 5cm material thickness and sections 60cm wide, the bar is massive and omnipresent. Yet as it is made as a modular system with readable single sections, the whole bar conveys relative lightness and in certain sense even suggests mobility.
Brass rods screwed into pre-molded inserts in the terrazzo provided for a shelving structure upon which we placed 8mm smoked glass plates and formed a ‘classic’ frontal bottle display, taking it all one step closer to the Italian origin we started with.
Commission: Schirn Kunsthalle, Nykke&Kokki, Stylepark
Team: Caroline Perret, Gerhardt Kellermann
Photography: Gerhardt Kellermann
