Unseen is both construction system and interior rolled into one. Presenting, viewing, selling, meeting, socialising, seeking inspiration — Bas van Tol accommodated all activities in an accessible, festival-like setting at the photography fair.
Housed in a century-old gasometer, the layout echoes the cast-iron ribs that radiate from the centre of the monumental circular space (54 m in diameter, 14.5 m in height) to the brick piers around the circumference.
Responding to these overhead ribs, Bas van Tol divided the circular space into equal segments, like pieces of a pie. Unlike standard trade fairs, this democratic model ensures no hierarchy among exhibitors and gives all of them equal visibility, irrespective of their size. What’s more, each 60-m2 segment can be subdivided into smaller zones depending on the number of exhibitors.
A walkway encircles all segments, while the public area in the middle, accessible through the segments, features an open pavilion housing a cafe and upstairs terrace. Precise dimensioning — the height of partitions, the width of the narrow ends of segments — ensures that all pieces form one harmonious composition with a museum-like ambience.
Bas van Tol came up with a building kit of multiply frames for assembling the partitions, pavilion and welcome archways on forecourt, which were reconfigured into tables and benches a year later. After the fair, all components were dismantled and stored for next year.
Of particular note is that Bas van Tol’s architectural model convinced the organisers to go ahead with the fair, financial backers to support it, and gallerists to participate in it. The project demonstrates that design can be more than the translation of an idea into space. It can help shape that idea in the first place.