Brancott Estate reveals design collaboration with Studio Dror
Dezeen promotion: New Zealand winemaker Brancott Estate has announced its plan to build a permanent, site-specific installation by New York designer Dror Benshetrit in its Marlborough vineyards, as part of a new partnership.
The winemaker, which created the world's first Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and is led by Patrick Materman, invited Benshetrit to create an installation that relates to the winemaking process.
![Brancott Estate and Studio Dror](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/10/Brancott-Estate-Studio-Dror_dezeen_936_3.jpg)
The nine-metre-tall sculpture begins as a flat matrix of Corten weathering steel, before stretching open to create a tower of three-dimensional diamond-shaped patterns. The material will allow the sculpture to weather naturally and blend into the environment.
"The vocabulary used by Patrick Materman [to describe the wine] kept circling in my head – body, expansion, volume," said Benshetrit. "I wanted to make something that communicated these terms, as well as the geometric orientation of the vineyard."
![Brancott Estate and Studio Dror](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/10/Brancott-Estate-Studio-Dror_dezeen_936_0.jpg)
Benshetrit envisioned a design that would appear to have emerged from the ground surrounding the grapevines.
"Dror's appreciation for craftsmanship and holistic approach to design has a strong synergy with our brand values," said Materman. "Transformation underpins all of his work and this reflects our history and spirit in a way that is truly exciting and pioneering."
The permanent sculpture will be erected in 2016 on Brancott Vineyard, Marlborough – which has transformed from a collection of sheep farms to a world-leading wine growing region.
Titled Under/standing, the project was partly informed by a statement made by American architect Buckminster Fuller, who believed that in order to fully understand something, one had to built it, then stand up under it.
![Brancott Estate and Studio Dror](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/10/Brancott-Estate-Studio-Dror_dezeen_936_5.jpg)
Echoing the grid-like format of the installation, Studio Dror has also designed an electro-coated steel wine holder that features enough triangulations to store six bottles.
A limited first run of 500 wine racks have been produced, and a small number will be available to purchase from the Brancott Estate Heritage Centre and on the company's website.
Yesterday evening, Benshetrit and Materman were in conversation with Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs in New York to mark the launch their collaboration.