Plastic Box Primary Function: Supermarket by Juan David Martínez

Plastic Box Primary Function: Supermarket by Juan David Martínez is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 A' Design Award Perak in Interior Competition Category.

PerakInterior· 2026

Plastic Box Primary Function: Supermarket

by Juan David Martínez

Client: Minimal Studio Projects SL

A' Design Award Perak Winner in Interior Category

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The Design

About Plastic Box Primary Function: Supermarket

Book Text: Proyék ieu mangrupa conto tina brutalisme minimalis. Rohanganana ngarobah deui pangalaman balanja ngaliwatan éstétika anu wani sarta pungsionalitas anu inovatif. Diciptakeun salaku cangkang beton kalawan garis-garis lempeng jeung volume géométris, éta ngagambarkeun rasa kakuatan jeung kalanggengan. Unsur anu pangwédarna nyaéta lalangit, anu diwangun ku leuwih ti sarébu peti plastik daur ulang anu disusun sacara modular, ditata kalawan taliti pisan.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award Perak

Plastic Box Primary Function: Supermarket mangrupa juara A' Design Award Perak, pangakuan anu luar biasa bergengsi anu dipasihkeun ka desain kelas luhur, endah jeung matak kagum. Para juara Perak téh karya anu pohara cemerlang jeung pohara kréatif anu ngagambarkeun kaahlian, bakat jeung kapinteran para désainerna. Plastic Box Primary Function: Supermarket diharepkeun jadi karya anu éndah, karya andalan anu pohara profésional jeung pohara inovatif. Desain juara A' Design Award Perak ieu mangrupa panemuan anu pohara kasohor jeung dikagumi anu mangpaat sarta ngamajukeun watesan seni, élmu, desain jeung téknologi. Plastic Box Primary Function: Supermarket mangrupa kréasi anu pohara diirikeun anu ngahudang kahayang, ngabawa rasa positip, jeung ngahudangkeun rasa heran jeung kagum.

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