Client: Patek Philippe Watches
Date: July 2017
Location: Cipriani on 42nd St. New York
Project Type: Production design, Engineering, Code compliance
Jeremy Thom Role: Production Designer
In July of 2017 Patek Philippe opened their Grand Exhibition, the Art of Watches, in a two level structure constructed inside Cipriani on 42nd St in New York. The structure was built to resemble a French Chateau and contained nine exquisitely finished rooms within which the watches and clocks were displayed in museum quality vitrines. The architectural shells of four of these rooms already existed from previous Exhibitions in London, Geneva and Dubai, and were in storage in Switzerland. The exterior of the 'chateau' was completely finished to a very high standard in both solid architecture and rear illuminated printed vinyl walls.
The exhibit was designed by Philippe Delatraz, Patek's long standing architect. He, and the Canadian structures company were already contracted before Tangram, my client, was hired. I was brought in by them to be Production Designer and occupy the middle of the triangle of these three vendors to ensure that all geometry was compatible, and that building methods and concepts would provide a smooth interface between existing and new structure. I also was tasked with making sure that all parts of the exhibit would fit together onsite and would build in the swiftest and simplest manner, given that the build period of 10 days onsite was very ambitious. I worked with Tangram's production team to ensure that all logistics and schedules were optimized onsite, at the pre-production builds and in the workshop. I also oversaw all structural analyses and code compliance issues.
The estimated visitor counts of 20,000 for the 12 day run of the exhibition were exceeded by 8000, making for a very successful event for both client and production.