Untitled Document
|
Showrooms: architecture and image
The architectural panorama of spaces linked to selling is particularly broad and varied. When it comes to showrooms, displaying the very components of the interior layout – wall covering, lighting, furniture, design objects – the offerings of choice are showcased in festive settings. This is a discipline undergoing a radical transformation that many architects like – with fabulous fields for experimentation by designers, all of whom want to reserve an optimal welcome for the public and to stimulate their choices efficiently. A quest for timelessness and certainty for some, a desire to plunge in worlds of dreams for others, these flagship stores hatch in hundreds every year in Berlin, Paris, Moscow, Milan, as expressions of modernity at the heart of the urban system – particularly in New York where Europe remains, now more than ever, a reference for quality. The architect’s undivided attention is focused on the product. His intervention is concentrated on the work of volumes, light, and colour in order to create a diversified universe which does not contradict the perception of visitors. A good project is distinguished by the excellence of the details. For the rest, the image of the product is global, because today, the market has changed. With the way of living having become globalised and uniform, this image must be the same everywhere. The showroom, wherever it may be in the world, brings a message that helps with understanding the philosophy of the brand better. A quick survey of some European labels.
|
In New York
1. Giorgetti
Created by the Studio Bello Dias, the 270 m² showroom interprets the essential of the Italian furniture brand: quality of materials, attention to detail and identification of the products by particularly suggestive colours and effects.
Lexington Avenue 200, New York
www.giorgettiusa.com
2. Sicis
Sicis, known for its collections of Mosaics has, through the aegis of its president, Maurizio Placuzzi, and with the help of the architect Massimiliano Raggi, renovated a superb 19th century building in the most hip part of Manhattan. The different Italian mosaics in iridescent glass, stone or metal, are showcased on several levels of 1 850 m² with lighting that heightens the texture of the covering.
Broome Street 470, New York NY 10013
www.sicis.it
3. BY Living Concept
The three Italian firms Boffi, Living Divani and Porro have created a unique presentation concept, developed by the architect Piero Lissoni. A veritable domestic landscape, it is a fully furnished lively landscape, spacious and sunny, in the centre of SoHo. In this space, structured only by a few slim columns, it is not the walls that delimit the different living and sleeping areas, the bathroom or the kitchen, but the products themselves.
Green Street 142, New York NY 10012
www.bynewyork.com
4. Duravit
Inaugurated munificently in mid-November, the brand new (and first) Duravit showroom in the United States wants to convey both the history of the German brand, which exceeds 190 years, and the expression of its creativity -- in the very heart of Manhattan, an international cultural and architectural crucible. The German architects Schmutz & Partner have concentrated on the theme parameters, i.e. water, light, texture and colour, for a multi-sensory experience. They decked the large showroom in blue, with the idea of creating a light, floating space, as a metaphor for the first element of the sanitary sector. Combining functionality and emotions, the famous products by Starck, Sieger, Iosa Ghini, Irvine or Foster are henceforth physically at the disposal of designers.
Madison Avenue 105, New York NY 10016
www.duravit.com
|
1. Giorgetti
2. Sicis
3. BY Living Concept
4. Duravit
|
In Brussels
5. Arclinea
In a revamped block of the Dansaert quarter, this showroom is an expression of “pleasure cuisine,” beloved of the Italian architect Antonio Citterio. The space showcases several furniture compositions that stress conviviality, sobriety of forms and professional technology.
Vieux Marché aux Grains 59, 1000 Bruxelles
www.arclinea.it
|
5. Arclinea |
In Paris
6. Nespresso Champs-Elysées
With more than 1500 m² distributed over 2 levels and 3 different spaces, the Champs-Elysées shop – the biggest in the world – provides an experience of coffee through eight spaces. The Francis Krempp agency has designed them like communication blocks. Colour, smells, luxury and a product that becomes a decorative element.
Avenue des Champs-Elysées, 119 - 75008 Paris
www.nespresso.com
|
6. Nespresso Champs-Elysées |
In Milan
7. Fritz Hansen
Designed by Stefano Tagliacarne, this platform of the Danish brand features furniture in sculptural forms on three levels. The space reflects the manufacturer’s philosophy to communicate its collections, punctuated with masterpieces by Arne Jacobsen and Poul Kjaerholm. The sobriety of the layout underscores the forms and the colours and the products on show which, in this way, become the leading elements of the décor.
Corso Garibaldi 77, Milano
www.fritzhansen.com |
7. Fritz Hansen |
|
|
