Project Name
Wine and Brandy Distillery Museum & Warehouse for Alliance-1892
Posted in
Cultural, Interior Design
Project Team
TOTEMENT / PAPER
Area (sqm)
1562
Client
Alliance-1892
Completed
2016
Detailed Information
Project NameWine and Brandy Distillery Museum & Warehouse for Alliance-1892Posted inCultural, Interior DesignProject TeamTOTEMENT / PAPER
Area (sqm)1562 ClientAlliance-1892Completed2016

The sculptural Wine and Brandy Distillery Museum & Warehouse that architecture firm, TOTEMENT/PAPER realized for Alliance-1892 is a case study into how, when executed to perfection, simple shapes can create complex forms. Located in Chernyakhovsk, an old German town in the Kaliningrad region of Russia, this 1,562 square meter structure was completed in 2016.

What the architects and engineers have done is actually create a three-building complex - a warehouse, a distillery and a clock house - which is an amalgamation of opposites that blend together to form a harmonious composite. This is especially true between the warehouse and distillery. The first two noticeable features between these that play off each other is that the warehouse lays low (and even sinks in) to the ground while the distillery lifts up high; the next is that the warehouse is made out of wood and the distillery out of metal. And it is these features which basically set the stage and hint at what's to follow upon entering either of the two.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Alliance 1892 - Wine and Brandy Distillery Museum and Warehouse (WAF 2017)
Architects - TOTEMENT/PAPER
Lead Architect - Levon Ayrapetov, Valeriya Preobrazhenskaya, Yegor Legkov, Diana Grekova
Location - Chernyakhovsk, Russia
Project Year - 2016
Music - Kai Engel

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Interestingly, a look at the design sketches reveals that each building was designed to almost "fold" and wrap around the other; reflecting each other's angles, and completing each other's design. They give the illusion of motion in the still landscape; as if they are merely "resting" in this given form for a brief while, until they begin to morph into their next shape. Poetically, in the designer's brief they actually describe the two buildings as "he" and "she" and state that they "become mates who give birth to architectural form in space."

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Inside, the space's angular forms mimic the exterior, with high, unadorned ceilings revealing the buildings' structures and open rooms devoid of artifice and any unnecessary objects. The wooden wine and brandy barrels are stacked one upon the other, filling up the space with their volume. Simple light bulbs are casually strung and hang low from the ceiling, illuminating the barrels from above and casting a somewhat celebratory glow -- after all, the contents of these barrels are the main attraction to the space and the reason for its existence.   

In short, the separate and distinct volumes of this Wine and Brandy Distillery & Museum differ in everything from material to shape. Nevertheless, they coexist to perfection and both bring out the best in the other. Seems like the perfect relationship, doesn't it?    

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Photo by Gleb Leonov.

Opposites Attract in Alliance-1892's Wine and Brandy Distillery Museum & Warehouse

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