TEM-PLATE is a minimalist showroom located in Lisbon, Portugal, designed by Gonzalez Haase AAS. The space is an old Warehouse in between Lisbon city centre and the site of Expo 98, just a few meters from the river Tagus. Lighting is the dominant feature of the design that covers the whole space without exception, enabling the space to remain totally open. The artificial lighting, seems to be a purely functional element to light the whole space in a homogeneous way as you might find in warehouses or supermarkets, though on closer observation one can see that the spacing between each lighting line, installed parallel to the facade, becomes denser as you move into the depth of the space. The system has been designed to dominate the powerful sunlight coming through the only open facade.

The distance between the line of lights close to the facade starts with 4 meters and progressively gets closer, with less than 1 metre in between each line at the back of the space. Parallel to this main curtain, another curtain wall is built at the back of the space with a layer of silver-grey polycarbonate to create a separate space with all back of house services. For furniture, using visible chipboard panels, covered by untreated grey or silver materials, the pieces are monumental, resembling fragments of architecture. Using extremely basic forms the pieces build up the stores’ radicality and are designed for the needs of each department – playing with what is visible or purposefully obstructed, forcing visitors to explore the space. The floor is the original one from the warehouse that has been deeply sanded to expose the bigger stones inside the concrete and whitened with a matte protection.

Photography by Thomas Meyer Ostkreuz