Retti candle shop, in an exclusive shopping street in the center of Vienna (Austria), is a remarkable small project that it was designed by Hans Hollein in 1966. The concept of the shop is also the concept of the city. The customer is confronted directly with the products for sale, there are no counters acting as barriers. After passing through the showroom he enters the storage room, which also is the sales area. Aluminium is used as main material throughout the outside and interior. It is used in the form of structural sections and sheets handled in various ways. All surfaces are polished and anodized. The natural color of the material is preserved and was one of the main contributing factors for the success of the project.
Aluminium is used as the primary material because it is a true material of their century, it is easy to form and work with, the lightness of material allowed assembling of large parts already in the workshop and their easy transport to site, the surface met the functional and aesthetical requirements. The elegance and nobility of the material was in keeping with the desired character and was used as the main theme of design, its silver hue providing the "image," of the shop in advertising and packaging.
