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Snarkitecture created pop-up clouded-fabric for Valextra’s store in Milan
Italy Architecture News - May 01, 2017 - 15:22 24283 views
A series of white clouded-fabrics wraps the new store of Valextra - a Fine leather-goods company in Milan - created for its 80th anniversary during Milan Design Week. Designed by New York-based firm Snarkitecture, the firm melts boundaries of art and architecture in this new pop-up project in Milan, which creates a seamless and endless effect inside the store.
Snarkitecture is commonly known with its cutting-edge projects and innovative applications in architecture and design world, using material properties, textures and forms in various sizes and contexts in order to enhance boundaries of design.
Valextra's new pop-up store in Via Manzoni investigates new colourless-colour revolution with a dramatic visual impact for visitors. Valextra's Autumn Winter 2017 men's collection presented within this all-white fabric - the collection dedicated to a sophisticated winter traveler, and is All White, an iconic feature that distinguishes the brand and has made its pergamena leather a celebrated signature.
Snarkitecture's concept is inspired by the simple structural order of common scaffolding systems, overlooking as temporary frameworks rather than complex and highly regimented modules.
The studio divides the store into three main bays and each bay is supported with its own internal structural system derived from a white and billowing mesh is suspended.
When visitors enter the store, they find themselves in an enveloped by a singular, dense, white matt surface, blurring the boundaries of the walls and ceiling, in contrast with the precise and clean lines of Valextra products.
In the interior, everything inside is wavy and padded. The entire store creates new layers of tactile fabric and presented all in degrading hues of white - the non-colour, which creates a surreal ambience able to space us out.
"Snarkitecture’s use of white is about reduction and simplifying elements from our normal surroundings. By inviting visitors into a monochromatic environment, we hope to create a space that feels transformative - an experience that transports you from the familiar and everyday," said Snarkitecture.
"Our approach considered the forms and palette of the Valextra collection. We felt that a monochromatic space would provide a striking, but complementary, setting for the Valextra pieces."
"Several key elements of the design were inspired by visits to Milan, including the architectural stone for the floor and the scaffold with white mesh. We were interested in the juxtaposition of hard, architectural surfaces with soft textures, as well as the play between precision (the grid-like scaffold) and looseness (the irregular scrim fabric)," added the architects.
The store interior is also strengthen with a replica of stone made from fibreglass. The walls in the interior are unconventionally upholstered with thick fury white carpet or quilted fabric.
All images courtesy of Delfinos Sisto Legnani and Marco Cappelletti
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