Selected project · Geneva
High watchmaking
The project
A gallery rather than a boutique.
Bringing together the watch creations of Maximilian Büsser & Friends and a selection of kinetic artworks within a single space.
Completed in Geneva in 2011, the first MB&F Mechanical Art Devices Gallery, M.A.D. Gallery, brings together the watch creations of Maximilian Büsser & Friends and a selection of kinetic artworks exclusively curated by Mr Büsser. The project inaugurated a concept that was subsequently developed in several countries.
The interior deliberately departs from the traditional codes of the high-watchmaking boutique. The space is conceived as a gallery, organised around a clear distinction between its two programmes. The white peripheral surfaces are dedicated to artworks, displayed on freestanding plinths or in integrated showcases. The black centre presents MB&F pieces in purpose-designed displays whose ribbed structure evokes mechanical components.
This chromatic organisation is not decorative. It establishes an immediate reading of the space: art occupies the luminous perimeter, while the watch creations sit at the centre of the composition. The display furniture, designed as a series of technical objects, reinforces this hierarchy without reproducing the conventional vocabulary of watch retail.
Art occupies the luminous perimeter; the watch creations sit at the centre of the composition.
Existing fabric & intervention
Preserving the character of the arcade.
The intervention preserves the principal characteristics of the existing arcade, part of Geneva’s Old Town heritage. Painted brick walls, exposed joists and track lighting contribute to a deliberately direct architectural language.
The alternation of black and white continues across the ceiling, structuring the depth of the space and accompanying the route between the artworks and the brand’s creations.
A reception area arranged around a table and armchairs allows watches to be presented individually in a setting distinct from the exhibition route. The commercial relationship is thus integrated into the overall functioning of the gallery, without a dominant counter or rigid separation between presentation, conversation and discovery.
Friends
The collective integrated into the architecture.
The black wall dedicated to the “Friends” brings together portraits of the collaborators directly involved in the development of MB&F. It represents the full range of expertise mobilised by the brand, from design and manufacture to distribution.
Integrated into the architecture, this collective portrait gives spatial expression to the founding principle of Maximilian Büsser & Friends.
The project thus brings together three complementary components: watchmaking creations, a selection of kinetic art, and the professional community involved in their creation. This first Geneva location established the architectural and curatorial foundations of the M.A.D.Gallery concept, foundations that remain unchanged to this day.
As for its aesthetic, it endured for over 12 years before being updated in 2024.
Details
Details.
MB&F M.A.D.Gallery · 117 m² · Geneva · Transformation · Project completed in 2011 with Lekoni SA · Full SIA 102 phases · video © MB&F