Plastic Box Mahi Matua: Toa Hokomaha by Juan David Martínez

Plastic Box Mahi Matua: Toa Hokomaha by Juan David Martínez is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 A' Design Award Hiriwa in Hoahoa Roto Whare me te Whakaaturanga Competition Category.

HiriwaRoto Whare· 2026

Plastic Box Mahi Matua: Toa Hokomaha

by Juan David Martínez

Client: Minimal Studio Projects SL

A' Design Award Hiriwa Winner in Roto Whare Category

15,187

Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #179873

Visit Site View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Plastic Box Mahi Matua: Toa Hokomaha

Tuhinga Pukapuka: He tauira tēnei kaupapa o te whakatakotoranga māmā me te kōhatu pakari. Ka whakahōungia e te wāhi te wheako hokohoko mā ngā āhuatanga ātaahua maia me ngā āhei hou. I hangaia hei anga raima me ngā raina tōtika me ngā rōrahi āhuahanga, ka whakaputaina e ia he kare o te kaha me te pūmautanga. Ko te āhuatanga motuhake rawa ko te tuanui, e hangaia ana e ngā kēti kirihou hangarua neke atu i te kotahi mano kua whakaritea i runga i te tikanga arorangi, kua whakaurua tika rawa.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award Hiriwa

Ko Plastic Box Mahi Matua: Toa Hokomaha te toa o te A' Design Award Hiriwa, he whakaaetanga tino whai mana e hoatu ana ki ngā hoahoa taumata teitei rawa, ātaahua me te whakamīharo. Ko ngā toa Hiriwa he mahi tino kanapa, tino auaha e whakaatu ana i te mātanga, te pūmanawa me te mōhio hōhonu o ā rātou kaihoahoa. E tūmanakohia ana ko Plastic Box Mahi Matua: Toa Hokomaha he mahi whakamīharo, he tauira, he tino ngaio, he auaha hōhonu. Ko tēnei hoahoa i toa i te Hiriwa he hanganga rongonui, whakamīharotia e whai wāhi ana ki te whakawhānui i ngā rohe o te toi, te pūtaiao, te hoahoa me te hangarau. Ko Plastic Box Mahi Matua: Toa Hokomaha he mahi e hae ana te tini, e whakaara ana i ngā hiahia, e kawe mai ana i ngā kare-ā-roto pai, ā, e whakaoho ana i te mīharo.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Plastic Box is a minimalist brutalist project that transforms the shopping experience through a bold aesthetic and innovative functionality. Conceived as a concrete envelope with clean lines, it conveys strength and permanence. Its key element is a ceiling made of more than a thousand recycled plastic crates that filter light and integrate lighting, ventilation, and rainwater systems. Inside, steel and concrete reinforce a sober commercial language that redefines materials and their uses.
Dimensions & Packaging: The lighting was conceived in an indirect and highly controlled manner. Light passes through and reflects off the system of 1,200 reused plastic crates in the ceiling, creating diffuse illumination that eliminates the typical glare found in supermarkets. In this way, light does not merely illuminate the space; it builds atmosphere and reinforces its scenographic character, creating a connection between the space and the shadows it generates.
Tags: supermarket, Plastic Box, plastic, brutalism
Production Technology: The project is defined by a reduced and honest material palette: concrete, steel, and reused plastic. Concrete provides brutality and neutrality; steel resolves the furniture with industrial precision; and plastic, usually hidden, becomes the architectural protagonist through the reuse of more than 1,200 crates. The ceiling was the greatest technical challenge, developed without precedents at this scale and requiring extensive prototyping, testing, and on site adjustments to assemble more than 1,200 reused elements with absolute precision.
Design Challenge: The main objective was to transform an everyday, functional space into an architectural experience. The client required a fully operational and efficient supermarket with clear circulation, while also seeking a space with its own identity recognizable and memorable. The program was simple: a sales area, storage, fluid circulation, and a powerful image that breaks with convention.
Research: The space was already operating as a supermarket, but it was in a completely neutral state, lacking architectural character, with standard solutions and a flat spatial reading. It was a generic container with no spatial value, which allowed us to intervene with complete freedom, starting from an almost blank slate.
Inspiration: The project is inspired by the idea of turning a space of consumption into an almost ritual, artistic experience. A brutalist and reduced language is used, where a single gesture defines the entire identity. This concept takes shape in the ceiling, made from over 1200 reused plastic crates, creating a recognizable and hypnotic atmosphere. The space becomes a box within a box, where function and symbolism coexist.
Project Duration: Completed in 2024 in Port d Alcúdia, Mallorca.
Team Members: Joan David Martínez Jofre
Image Credits: Fotógrafo / Leonardo Cóndor