client:    Vin De Garde

 

type:    commercial

 

location:    n/a

 

size:    variable

 

team:    darin johnstone, rob ettenger, jesus guerrero

 

awards:    Vin de Garde Wine Wall Competition Winner, First Place

 

 

darin johnstone architects

W(h)IM

February 2012

 

Wine is often described in terms of its characteristics. It can be described as baked, balanced, beery, big, brilliant, broad, clean, clear, cloudy, cloying, course, common, deep, dry, dull, elegant, fat, flabby, flowery and so on. Characteristics are described to evoke character and a deep wine collection is often a cast of characters. Wine invites comparisons to other flavors; berry, apple, butter, vanilla, chocolate, cherry, cranberry, raspberry, strawberry, blackberry, blueberry, plum, etcetera. It cannot be contained within its own taste realm. Characteristics, taste analogies and other comparisons are constantly used to describe wines because the range is vast and complex. Wine storage systems often have ‘character’; Rich woods, sturdy configurations, classic detailing or clean industrial materials and elegant minimalist detailing. This is fine but one of our aesthetic goals was to eschew the idea of having ‘character’ and seek the idea of the design object being a character so we might be able to use words like fat, flowery, lively, luscious, rounded or vigorous to describe the design object as well as what it holds. This project wonders what would happen if wine storage might somehow begin to function as an indicator of what it holds; a pre-cursor to the experience of the wine and a visual guide to enrich that experience and enhance the selection process. We wanted the wine storage system to serve as a visual index; a three dimensional map that might indicate varietal, age, region, and bottle size at a glance.

client:    vin de garde

 

type:   commercial

 

location:    n/a

 

size:    variable

 

team:   darin johnstone, rob ettenger, jesus guerrero

 

darin johnstone architects

W(h)IM

February 2012

Wine is often described in terms of its characteristics. It can be described as baked, balanced, beery, big, brilliant, broad, clean, clear, cloudy, cloying, course, common, deep, dry, dull, elegant, fat, flabby, flowery and so on. Characteristics are described to evoke character and a deep wine collection is often a cast of characters. Wine invites comparisons to other flavors; berry, apple, butter, vanilla, chocolate, cherry, cranberry, raspberry, strawberry, blackberry, blueberry, plum, etcetera. It cannot be contained within its own taste realm. Characteristics, taste analogies and other comparisons are constantly used to describe wines because the range is vast and complex. Wine storage systems often have ‘character’; Rich woods, sturdy configurations, classic detailing or clean industrial materials and elegant minimalist detailing. This is fine but one of our aesthetic goals was to eschew the idea of having ‘character’ and seek the idea of the design object being a character so we might be able to use words like fat, flowery, lively, luscious, rounded or vigorous to describe the design object as well as what it holds. This project wonders what would happen if wine storage might somehow begin to function as an indicator of what it holds; a pre-cursor to the experience of the wine and a visual guide to enrich that experience and enhance the selection process. We wanted the wine storage system to serve as a visual index; a three dimensional map that might indicate varietal, age, region, and bottle size at a glance.

client:    vin de garde

 

type:   commercial

 

location:    n/a

 

size:    variable

 

team:   darin johnstone, rob ettenger, jesus guerrero

 

darin johnstone architects

W(h)IM

February 2012

Wine is often described in terms of its characteristics. It can be described as baked, balanced, beery, big, brilliant, broad, clean, clear, cloudy, cloying, course, common, deep, dry, dull, elegant, fat, flabby, flowery and so on. Characteristics are described to evoke character and a deep wine collection is often a cast of characters. Wine invites comparisons to other flavors; berry, apple, butter, vanilla, chocolate, cherry, cranberry, raspberry, strawberry, blackberry, blueberry, plum, etcetera. It cannot be contained within its own taste realm. Characteristics, taste analogies and other comparisons are constantly used to describe wines because the range is vast and complex. Wine storage systems often have ‘character’; Rich woods, sturdy configurations, classic detailing or clean industrial materials and elegant minimalist detailing. This is fine but one of our aesthetic goals was to eschew the idea of having ‘character’ and seek the idea of the design object being a character so we might be able to use words like fat, flowery, lively, luscious, rounded or vigorous to describe the design object as well as what it holds. This project wonders what would happen if wine storage might somehow begin to function as an indicator of what it holds; a pre-cursor to the experience of the wine and a visual guide to enrich that experience and enhance the selection process. We wanted the wine storage system to serve as a visual index; a three dimensional map that might indicate varietal, age, region, and bottle size at a glance.