Eolith Flagship Store by PMA madhushala

Eolith is a 2300 sq ft stone studio in a prime locality of Pune, dedicated to introducing and selling Indian natural local stones. The client wished to create an identity for their brand chain where they could display the stone from their quarry — Basalt, Kota, and Sandstone. 

As an architect, there is a responsibility to not only comply with clients' wishes but to do so in a way that brings ample joy and happiness. We attempt to search for something beyond the usual and retain the artistic flair often lost in the maze of technicality. Eolith is an attempt to break away from conventional exhibition spaces. To do so, a module-based, flexible display system was devised with changeable exhibits. This uniqueness of display befitted the client’s soaring aspirations of carving a space for Indian natural stones in the premium market.

 

The objective of the design was to make a modular system for display that would stand independent of the wall ensuring its adaptability to any space.

A triangular grid was developed to break common notions with a sense of geometry that gave a tessellation of triangles and hexagons. The exhibit is an interactive installation of 30 rotating and revolving triangular modules which were used as panels to create display spaces. The display is a combination of centrally pivoted and edge pivoted triangular modules, of which the edge pivoted triangular module’s movement creates a dynamic and ever-changing spatial experience. The stone can be placed and replaced, not only in the triangular display module but also in hexagonal flooring, maximizing the exhibit area. The placement of triangular modules gives us the hexagonal experiential spaces for the accentuation of which a fabricated Lotus ceiling is added that also acts as a supporting member. This lotus fabrication was developed, through a 3d exploration of the 12-petal flower geometric pattern. The lotuses are suspended from the ceiling to form the final enclosure. The ceiling lotuses and the display modules were handmade by the local fabricator with such precision that it eases the handling of the triangular display units. The placement of triangular units provides multiple possibilities for circulation to the user, and with ease, in the rotation, the triangular display units can be revolved and rotated to make a fluid spatial experience. The whole exhibit provides a sense of an interactive art installation.