The design of Tiffany‘s store in the Dorotheen Quartier, the latest in a series of Tiffany store façades, was inspired by Tiffany’s history of material innovation to create a façade of 2,829 hand-crafted ceramic elements in the shape of diamonds. Invisibly mounted onto the glass storefront to give a “floating” effect, these diamonds have an iridescent finish that is reminiscent of the Favrile Glass patented by Louis Comfort Tiffany in 1894.
Mounted on both the outside and the inside of the glass, this gives the impression that visitors are surrounded in a dreamlike environment of floating diamonds. The density of these diamonds is adjusted to create transparency and opacity as required; around window displays and at the corner of the building, the diamonds “dissolve” to allow views into and out of the store.
The diamonds were manufactured by Koninklijke Tichelaar, the oldest ceramics manufacturer in the Netherlands and an expert in creating specialist glazes. In addition to the nine colours, from signature robin’s-egg blue to a pristine white, that make up the gradient on the façade, the diamonds are finished with an iridescent sheen, achieving a soft, dynamic finish that changes according to the lighting, weather, and viewing angle.
Contractor: SOMEC Mestieri Group
Lighting: METIS Lighting
Photo credits: Gionata Xerra Studio
