Press Release
The Peacock Wine Cellar by Kyle MertensMeyer Wins the Platinum A' Design Award in Interior Space and Exhibition Design
Kyle MertensMeyer acknowledged for interior space and exhibition design by the international grand jury of the 2021 - 2022 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 22, 2022 /DesignNewswire/ The Peacock Wine Cellar by Kyle MertensMeyer, designed for Godolphin, has been granted the Platinum A' Design Award in the Interior Space and Exhibition Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The recognition forms part of the 2021 - 2022 A' Design Award & Competition and was decided through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
What the Platinum A' Design Award Means
The Platinum A' Design Award is recognized for honoring designs that stand at the forefront of creativity and innovation. It is the highest accolade bestowed by the A' Design Awards, acknowledging works that blend remarkable innovation with impactful societal contributions. These designs not only showcase exceptional artistic and technical proficiency but also highlight their creators' commitment to advancing the boundaries of art, science, design, and technology. Recipients of this award are celebrated for their role in shaping the aesthetics and trends of our time, contributing significantly to the enhancement of quality of life and promoting sustainable development.
Regarding The Peacock Wine Cellar
The Peacock is a wine cellar of about ten square meters. The cellar is lined with one thousand blue glazed terra cotta tiles, each shaped and finished by hand. The tiles are arranged in a triple curved array inspired by the form of a peacock. Each tile holds a wine bottle and carries a small light that illuminates the tile below, so the only other light source is a single spotlight above the central table. The tiles were made by artisans in Jingdezhen, China, using a feather textured blue glaze of the Song Dynasty. Cooling is managed by a smart controller.
About Kyle MertensMeyer
The Founding Principle of August Green, Kyle MertensMeyer studied at Harvard and has built a practice in architecture, interior, and product design with teams in the U.S., Europe, and China, where he lived for a decade. In 2016, Kyle was named the Will Ching Designer of the Year by the International Interior Design Association in Chicago. Kyle’s recently recognized works include the Peacock Cellar in Shanghai, awarded Best Global Project by F.X. Magazine, and the Bethesda Medical Center in Haiti, awarded by the Boston Society of Architects and the AIA. Kyle is additionally the co-founder of Kaleidoskope Visualization and the CEO of the Green Missions Foundation.
Award Record
Kyle MertensMeyer is a winner of 1 A' Design Award, including this recognition.
About the A' Interior Space, Retail and Exhibition Design Award
The A' Interior Design Award is an international interior design competition recognizing good interior designs by interior designers and architects worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to interior designers, interior architects, architects and decorators from all countries. Entries typically include residential interiors, restaurants, hotels, offices, galleries and retail stores. Awarded interior designs are published at https://desingers.org/design-category/interior
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://desingers.org/134579
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/134579
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!134579
- Laureate Profile: https://desingers.org/d/324352
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://www.augustgreen.com/
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- The Peacock Wine Cellar
- Function
- Wine Cellar
- Category
- Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Discipline
- Spatial Design
- Industry
- Architecture and Packaging & Retail
- Colors
- Black, Dark Slate Gray, Dim Gray and Gray
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Godolphin
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Kyle MertensMeyer
- Country
- United States of America
- Recognition
- Platinum A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2021 - 2022
- Design ID
- #134579
Credits
- Team
- Ni Yangchao and Tang Linwei
- Image Credits
- Main image is; Wen Studio Optional; Dirk Weiblen Photography Optional; Wen Studio Video Credit: Wen Studio
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- The Peacock Cellar's use of ancient craftsmanship combined with contemporary fabrication technologies creates a beautiful and intentional joining of past and present. The blue tone of the cellar comes from one thousand individually handcrafted blue glazed clay tiles, glistening like the peacock's feathers. The symbolism of the peacock showcases both elegance and strength. To create these tiles, the design team and client worked with artisans from the historic porcelain town of Jingdezhen, China, known for the most exquisite porcelain throughout the dynasties.
- Inspiration
- From 960-1127, during the Song Dynasty, artisans crafted a unique style of feather-textured blue porcelain glaze. Since then, this particular blue glazing technique has disappeared. Our team spent months searching for artisans who could bring back this feather-textured glazing technique as the key feature for this cellar.
- Research
- The primary research required for this project pertained to testing the shape of the blue terra-cotta tile and its ability to safely hold the wine bottles while still allowing ease of access. The team used a series of 3d printed prototypes and shake tests to evolve the shape of the tile. Additionally, the team used the 3D printed prototypes to build mockups to study the lighting integration methods for the wine cellar.
- Challenge
- The most challenging aspect of this project was to create the specific blue feathered glazing for the terra-cotta tiles. More than fifty artisans attempted, and only one prevailed. The process of creating each was long and intensive. Each tile was made as a hollow sculpture and glazed in blue twice. Extreme heat needed to create the blue color caused many of the tiles to crack in the process and required delicate expertise. Our team and the artisans realized through this process why this glazing typology had been a rarity throughout history.
- Realization and Technology
- For over two years, the artisans worked to recreate the glazing for each tile one by one in small kilns. Incredibly, the technique required extreme heat to achieve the blue color tone, and as a result, only 1 in 10 pieces crafted survived in the end. For every tile seen in the cellar, nine others cracked in the extreme heat or were flawed. Due to the difficulty and time needed to create such craftsmanship, it's unlikely that such work would be attempted again or repeated by others, making this a one-of-a-kind piece of art for our time.
- Operation and Interaction
- The cellar operation is designed to be seamless and functions with ease. The primary cooling function is controlled by a smart controller with access via APP for the wine cellar's owner. Additionally, a custom aluminum ladder was designed to access wine bottles at elevated heights. The ladder is light and easily moved as it attaches to a floated steel ring around the top of the cellar.
- Project Duration and Location
- The Project Began in January 2019 in Shanghai, China, and was completed in July 2021.
- Specifications
- Within the 10m2 cellar, the feathered tiles are splayed using a triple curved parametric array inspired by the majestic form of the peacock. The cellar tiles are designed with a dual purpose to hold each bottle and serve the cellar's light source. 3D printing was used to prototype the shape of tiles for stability. Additionally, at the base of each tile is a single small LED that lights the tile beneath the other; there is no additional lighting within the cellar other than a single spotlight directed downward above the central table resembling the peacock's head.
- Keywords
- Terra-cotta, Wine Cellar, Blue, Glazing, Song Dynasty, Jingdezhen, Tile, Parametric, 3D-Printing
