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John Pawson
Vacheron Constantin
Headquarters and Factory
Geneva
Unbuilt
 
A key challenge of this design for a new headquarters and factory for Swiss watchmakers Vacheron Constantin was to harmonize aesthetic quality with a particular set of technical requirements.
 
The architecture consists of five vast honey-coloured concrete mantles set in a formal landscape. Working on a monumental scale, the design proposes a series of pristine junctions which explore the very different qualities of stone and glass, playing with the ability of glass to make stone appear to float.