Description of project by Jonathan Olivares
Los Angeles-based industrial designer Jonathan Olivares is the latest artist to translate his unique talent into a new Together store concept. For the area of the new Rockefeller Center, right across from Radio City Music Hall, Olivares draws inspiration from the store's historic surroundings and uses Indiana natural limestone to pay tribute to one of New York's greatest cultural landmarks.
In honor of the iconic Radio City Music Hall signs, designed by Edward Durell Stone and Donald Deskey, the store's interior is painted with aluminum paint and features a large Camper logo on neon lights. In his design for Rockefeller Center, architect Raymond M. Hood implemented the first escalator used in a retail environment. As a nod to this mechanization of architecture and the work of Raymond M. Hood, the store uses mobile file cabinets to eliminate the warehouse and create a more transparent environment for vendors and customers.
The displays, benches and store counter are made of Indiana limestone, the same material used in the building's façade. While Hood's façade is decorated with flat tiles, the store's furniture consists of three-dimensional objects, carved from solid limestone blocks with state-of-the-art robotic saw blades at the Quarra Stone Company. From the store, visitors can enjoy one of the best views of Radio City Music Hall, except that, now, the image has changed slightly and is read "Camper Radio City".
"This Camper store, located in the Rockefeller Center and across from Radio City Music Hall, is part of an architectural landmark. When these historic sites opened their doors in 1933, they were considered avant-garde buildings that brought together community values, artwork, mechanical innovation, craftsmanship and popular culture. The location is reflected in the design of the store, which adopts and celebrates aspects of the surrounding architecture inside".
