Rose-pink and terracotta ceramic façade tiles
Mamou-Mani Architects (façade design) — 100 percent local production · London (design) · Beijing / China (production)
Phase 1 interim swatch — photography pending.
- Technique
- Hand-glazed ceramic tile, rhythmic semi-transparent veil composition
- Family
- ceramic
- First appearance
- Issue 01 · hermes-sanlitun
- Supplier / fabricator
- Mamou-Mani Architects (façade design) — 100 percent local production · London (design) · Beijing / China (production)
Editor note
Rose-pink and terracotta hand-glazed ceramic tiles arranged in a rhythmic composition, functioning as a semi-transparent veil across the five-storey Hermès Sanlitun flagship. Façade design by Mamou-Mani Architects (London), producing a computational geometry balanced between opacity and openness. Colour range sourced, per Denis Montel of RDAI, from sixteenth- to nineteenth-century Chinese paintings — a palette research exercise spanning four centuries. Production is 100 percent local. A separate metal 'birdcage' structure hovers above the ceramic envelope, creating a dual-envelope building system. The material does the cultural work: Parisian architectural authorship, London computational design, Chinese production — delivering a palette argument about Forbidden City rooflines and Qing Dynasty bird-walking culture. Technical specification is proprietary; the commission is the reference point rather than the off-the-shelf product.
Specification notes
- Rhythmic ceramic-tile composition functioning as semi-transparent veil
- Five-storey free-standing glass structure clad in full tile envelope
- Separate metal “birdcage” structure hovers above the ceramic layer
- Palette research: 16th, 17th, 19th century Chinese paintings (Denis Montel, RDAI)
- Production: 100 percent local (Beijing / China)