SITE
Superzoom is a Parisian art gallery located in the historic district of Le Marais. The area has the highest concentration of contemporary art galleries of the French capital city.
UPSIDE-DOWN APPROACH
For Superzoom’s architecture, GOLEM has flipped upside-down the classic and elitist sequence of an art gallery.
Therefore offering visitors a new pleasure-driven experience and the gallery managers three spatial tools for a large range of curatorial approaches.
ENTRY THROUGH THE DIRECTOR’S OFFICE
Instead of entering through an intimidating solemn white cube where silence is king, all visitors enter directly through a warm and cozy open-to-all director’s office.
AN ACOUSTIC THRESHOLD
In this pink den, electronic beats spring through the integrated sound system and bounce on the art, on the inviting bench and on the pink synthetic grass carpet, all contributing to the acoustic comfort of the room.
THE WHITE CUBE
After having been introduced to Superzoom’s vibe and curatorial line, visitors enter the next room, the white cube.
However built under O’Doherty’s fundamental rules, the white cube is limited to its two-dimensional surface and a pink perforation is always visible wherever you look.
OPEN STORAGE
Finally the last room closing the loop at the end of the sequence is an open storage visible to all.
THREE ROOMS, THREE CURATORIAL TOOLS
The three rooms, the director’s office, the white cube and the open storage offer the gallery managers a lot of freedom for their exhibition design.
For example a solo show can happen in the white cube while other artists are shown in the director’s office and the open storage without disturbing it.
MODULAR SPACE
All the furniture and the wall between the white cube and the director’s office are mobile and can be removed for different types of exhibitions or to turn the place into a party venue.
TRAVELING ICONICITY
The pink color has always been Superzoom’s signature color. After helping the gallery managers to find the perfect shade, GOLEM has extended this principle in designing a table that can travel with the art to fairs, making Superzoom’s booth always distinguishable from other galleries.
ORIGINS
When the gallery owners contacted GOLEM to design their first permanent location in Paris, their initial request was a classic single-space white cube.
GOLEM’s process was to question their initial brief and to go upstream the project’s origins. Three questions were asked to the client:
• Where does Superzoom come from?
• Where is Superzoom now?
• Where is Superzoom going?
Followed a series of fruitful debates, discussions and personal stories. Here were the final notes that came out of this intimate exercise:
• The gallery needs to be iconic
• The space needs to reflect the vibrant tribe formed by the gallery managers and their artists
• Nightlife and moreover the techno scene, where most of the social interactions between this tribe happen, have to be celebrated
• Pink is the color
• Sweet rounded shapes and smooth surfaces should show people that they are welcome, help them feel comfortable and encourage them to stay
• The whole project has to be a celebration to openness, a core value shared by Superzoom & GOLEM