Small Formats Gallery, Bol

The Small Formats Gallery in Bol on the island of Brač was designed as an exhibition space for the presentation of various artists and their pieces from a donated private collection of miniatures owned by Ivica Karninčić Koloč. The design of the gallery has achieved the objective of a complete transformation of existing office premises into an open exhibition space with a minimum number of architectural elements. The design approach was based on the need to accommodate a more than 300 miniature paintings, sculptures and monographs in a small place of almost 115 m2. Intact from the existing walls, ceiling and floor, a white floating skin meanders in the gallery space. It vibrates between the precious views from the existing openings, creating the scenography of a long exhibition canvas with numerous paintings. It maximizes the display area and hides the heating and cooling installations, the storage for artwork on hold, as well as storerooms and everything else that should not be visible. The box for miniature minute film floats, seperated in space from the volume of the skin. While entirely white on the outside, it is entirely black on the inside. An exciting floating challenge for the designers and the contractors was the dominant five-meter-long glass volume of the vitrine. Stretched by four unusually thin steel rods, the vitrine floats in balance between the ceiling and the floor. The Gallery was nominated for the Bernardo Bernardi Award for the most successful achievement in the area of design and interior design for the year 2019.

What makes this project one-of-a-kind?
The design approach was based on the need to accommodate a more than 300 miniature paintings, sculptures and monographs in a small place of almost 115 m2.