Mobile Communication Outlet

Date 1999–2000
Client Allcom plc
Value 200.000 euro
Location St. Julian's, Malta

interior design

The project for the design of a shop of what used to be called ‘Allcom’ in a trendy touristic town that evolved on the traces set out by the original fishing village and the later Victorian summer residential spa, owes its genesis to the concept that publicity can serve as a vehicle to lift the urban space of the town to the level of art. With this in mind, the outer skin of the shop is the ‘page’ on which the text guiding the users’ choices will be written.

Excessive and disorganized text on walls was avoided at all costs with consequent detrimental effects on the potential attraction of an important market. The generation of a semantically rich, but grammatically correct, communication was therefore of paramount importance in the design of the outlet. Nevertheless the message had to be loud and clear.

The space available is designed as a giant billboard, or simply as a unique, deep shop window, one which is not only visible to passers-by at ground level, but also pedestrians using the first floor passages and bridge.

A two dimensional surface wraps around the space, forming a screen on which images are projected. The latter engulf the whole space and are read both from a distance and from close up. Customers, and their shadows, interact with these images, becoming part of and participating with them.

Photography
David Pisani