Motor Stand, Manila, 2016

Concept for a motor show stand competition in Manila, Philippines. Rather than drawing on the characteristics of the site, we explored the opposite approach. A car is a highly engineered object whose performance is self-contained, allowing it to function in virtually any environment. Its beauty lies in this context-free completeness. The same car can belong to any landscape. While images of a vehicle moving through Manila are important for local marketing, we felt that a truly complete automobile should be equally at home anywhere in the world. For this proposal, the backdrop depicts the streets of Manila, yet the concept is universal and could be adapted to any city. To express this idea, we proposed an urban backdrop behind the vehicle. To prevent the scene from disappearing within the visual density of the exhibition, we rotated the streetscape ninety degrees and placed it on the floor. A wall of mirrors angled at forty-five degrees reflects the installation, making the scene appear upright above the exhibition floor. The result is a stand where the city emerges as an illusion around the vehicle—where the car literally stands in the motor show stand.

Images : Archiee studio