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      Boyy flagship in Milan reveals layers of the store’s history

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      Danish artist Thomas Poulsen, also known as FOS, has revamped the flagship store of accessories brand Boyy in Milan, keeping time-worn surfaces left over from the site’s former fit-outs.

      This marks the third time that FOS has refreshed the space on Via Bagutta since 2021, as part of the artist’s plan to create a dynamic “evolving” store.
      FOS has redesigned Boyy’s flagship in MilanIn its first incarnation, the Boyy flagship had funhouse-style mirrors, walls draped in faded pink fabric and cobalt-blue carpets emblazoned with everyday objects.
      This colour scheme was inverted for the second iteration of the store featuring blue walls and bubblegum-pink carpet. Elements of both of these schemes now remain in the store’s third and final form, which was left purposefully unfinished.
      Unpanelled sections of the wall reveal the store’s past fit-outs”This space was an experiment in formulating a shared language for how Boyy could develop as a brand,” FOS explained.

      “We started by creating an installation – the first rendition – then used that experience to create a second installation, and finally built upon the combined experience to create this final permanent space that we have now arrived at.”
      “We always envisioned the third rendition as the final act,” added Boyy co-founder Jesse Dorsey.
      Accessories are displayed inside illuminated glass vitrinesThe Boyy flagship now has walls panelled with the same grey ceppo stone that clads the store’s facade.
      Some areas were left without panelling, revealing the aged, fabric-lined walls left behind by a previous occupant – a 50-year-old antique shop that sold quaint Americana-style objects for the home.
      Blue fabric can also be seen hanging in the rear corner, saved from FOS’s second overhaul of the space.

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      These swathes of time-worn fabric were enclosed inside aluminium window frames, as were some of the store’s display units.
      Elsewhere, Boyy’s selection of shoes and handbags can be showcased in several illuminated glass vitrines or on the ledge that runs around the periphery of the store.
      The store has been finished with terrazzo flooringFOS also created a display shelf around a crumbling structural column that sits in the middle of the floor plan.
      A couple of tiered, sea-green bench seats were dotted throughout the store as decoration, complementing the flecks of greens stone that are found in the terrazzo floor.
      Curved benches provide seating throughout the storeMilan is home to an abundance of visually striking retail spaces.
      Others include the Moschino flagship, which was designed to reference the history of ancient Italy, and the Off-White store, which is decked out with natural materials like Patagonia granite.

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      Space tourism informs design of Ichi Station sushi restaurant in Milan

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      Valencian design studio Masquespacio has completed a dine-in restaurant for takeaway sushi chain Ichi Station in Milan, with interiors designed to resemble a futuristic spaceship.

      Set in a historic building in the Brera district, the chain’s latest outpost builds on the same travel and transport concept established across its other outlets – including eight in Milan and another in Turin.
      Masquespacio has designed Ichi Station’s Brera outpostBut Masquespacio wanted to take this idea to the next level for the new restaurant by drawing on the visual language of sci-fi and space tourism.
      “We proposed approaching the travel concept as a trip to the future,” said Masquespacio co-founder Christophe Penasse.
      “When you enter Ichi, it’s like entering a capsule-like spaceship travelling through light, where you will disconnect from reality in order to get in touch with the food.”

      Customers can pick up orders at the takeaway counterMasquespacio completely redeveloped the layout of the 80-square-metre site – previously another restaurant – creating a central dining area along with a tunnel where diners can observe some of the sushi-making process.
      A pick-up bar close to the entrance was added to separate the circulation routes of take-away customers and diners.
      The dining area is housed in a cylindrical tunnelThe tunnel motif was developed as a way to express the idea of travel and make a reference to Japan without falling into cliches.
      “Some elements were incorporated to remind the customer of Japan, like the huge lighting circles, although we tried to avoid making typical references to Japan such as using wooden structures,” Penasse explained.

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      The tunnel motif also informed the circular and cylindrical details that pop up throughout the space across seat backs, bar stools and decorative elements such as the circular feature light in the main dining area.
      “The shapes and forms give the project the futuristic look that it needed,” the designer said.
      Diners can also watch sushi being prepared at the counterMasquespacio opted for a simple and restrained material palette that includes glass and micro-cement, which was used along with fully integrated tables and seating to create a seamless look reminiscent of a spaceship.
      The restaurant’s custom-made furniture brings in another reference to transport design tropes. “You can recognise it as a reinterpretation of the seating in a station and especially on a train,” Penasse explained.
      LED light panels are integrated into the walls, ceilings and table topsThe interior is finished in neutral shades of beige and off-white but is cast in different vivid colours thanks to the LED lighting system that is integrated into the walls, ceilings and even the table tops.
      The lights alternate between shades of blue, green, purple and peach at variable speeds and, according to Penasse, create a veritable “explosion of colour”.
      The toilets are finished in contrasting navy blueAlthough based in Spain, Masquespacio has completed a number of projects in Italy in recent years.
      Among them are two colour-block restaurants for fast-food chain Bun – a blue-and-green interior in Turin and a green-and-purple version in Milan.
      The photography is by Luis Beltran.

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      Eight Milanese interiors with eye-catching material palettes

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      In the lead-up to Milan design week, we have rounded up eight residential and hotel interiors in the Italian city that are united by their use of muted colours and diverse materials.

      As the Salone del Mobile furniture fair is set to kick off next week, alongside its surrounding Fuorisalone events programme, these interiors provide a glimpse into some of the city’s design-led apartments, homes and hotels.
      Among the featured projects in Italy’s industrial capital is a hybrid home and office space in a former dental studio, a home set within a 200-year-old palazzo and a nunnery-turned-hotel.
      This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides curated visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring accent walls, bookshelves and terracotta tiles.
      Photo is by Carola RipamontiTeorema Milanese, Italy, by Marcante-Testa

      With the exception of removing a partition wall to create an open-plan living and dining area, Italian design studio Marcante-Testa looked to maintain the classic layout of this apartment in a 1960s building on Corso Sempione during its renovation.
      The studio decorated the apartment in muted colours and used pale grey cipollino tirreno marble as a “carpet” across the sitting area. Elsewhere, a pale lemon-hued cabinet functions as a partition while the bathroom is clad in a maroon-streaked salomè marble.
      Find out more about Teorema Milanese ›

      Out of the Blue, Italy, by AIM
      Italian design studio AIM made liberal use of the colour grey when renovating the interior of this 150-square-metre home in Milan. The concealed staircase that forms the centre of the renovation is framed in the distinctive bluey-grey hue.
      And in the dining area, the home’s wooden flooring was decorated with a painted rectangle that aims to visually zone and separate the space from its surroundings. Brass fixtures complement its grey hue, which can also be found across light fixings and ornaments.
      Find out more about Out of the Blue ›
      Photo is by Giovanni Emilio GalanelloPrivate apartment, Italy, by Untitled Architecture
      A cylindrical staircase and metal structural elements are the focal features of this small apartment, designed by local studio Untitled Architecture.
      The apartment has a minimal paired-back aesthetic, with white-painted walls and bleached wood elements contrasted against tiny pops of colour introduced through blue-hued grouting and balustrades.
      Find out more about the private apartment ›
      Photo is by Michele FilippiCPR Apartment, Italy, by +R Piuerre
      Housed in a former dental studio, this hybrid home and office belongs to a young remote-working couple and was designed to combine Milanese modernism with Nordic design.
      Two areas of the apartment were colour-coded according to their function, with the bedroom, office and entryway covered in tones of grey while the living area and kitchen are marked by a bright yellow hue. The spaces are connected by a white-painted staircase constructed from sheets of folded metal.
      Find out more about CPR Apartment ›

      Room Mate Giulia, Italy, by Patricia Urquiola
      Pistachio green was used to colour the dado wall panelling and soft furnishings inside this suite in Milan’s Room Mate Giulia hotel decorated by Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola. Meanwhile, the upper half of the walls and the ceilings are covered in white wallpaper with a geometric grid pattern.
      Industrial materials and furnishings, including a galvanised metal shelving unit, were repurposed as boutique storage solutions and room partitions.
      Find out more about Room Mate Hotels ›

      Casa Salvatori, Italy, by Elissa Ossino Studio
      This home, designed by Milanese architecture practice Elissa Ossino Studio for the head of Italian stone company Salvatori, brings together marble furnishings and flecked terrazzo floors to link the interior with Salvatori’s stone manufacturing history.
      Dulled hues of blue, peach, green and yellow were carried through the interior of the home, which is set within a 200-year-old palazzo in the city’s Brera district.
      Find out more about Casa Salvatori ›
      Photo is by Giovanna SilvaHouse with an iron staircase, Italy, by Roberto Murgia and Valentina Ravara
      An iron staircase with a zig-zagging framework reminiscent of structural trusses was installed along one wall of this apartment in the Isola district, designed by Italian architects Roberto Murgia and Valentina Ravara.
      The floor of the main living space features a geometric design, achieved through the use of hexagonal cement tiles. Each of the tiles is handmade and coloured in shades of light blue and white to provide tonal variation.
      Find out more about House with an iron staircase ›
      Photo is by Alberto StradaThe Sister Hotel, Italy, by Quincoces-Dragò
      Housed in a former 16th-century nunnery in Milan’s city centre, The Sister Hotel features decadent yet eclectic interiors by architecture studio Quincoces-Dragò.
      The studio looked to grandiose private townhouses when designing the interiors, opting for moody shades of navy blue and deep green within the bedrooms. Furnishings introduce brighter colours into the suites, including a velvet-upholstered orange sofa.
      Find out more about The Sister Hotel ›
      This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring accent walls, bookshelves and terracotta tiles.

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      Moschino flagship store references the “history of ancient Italy”

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      Italian studio Andrea Tognon Architecture has collaborated with former Moschino creative director Jeremy Scott to renovate the brand’s flagship store in Milan.

      Located on Via della Spiga, one of Milan’s famed shopping streets, the store sits within the 18th-century Palazzo Perusati, which was recently transformed by real estate company Hines into a luxury retail development.
      The store was designed by Andrea Tognon Architecture in collaboration with Scott who aimed to recreate and allude to the history of ancient Italy through a minimalist yet ornamental interior scheme.
      The Moschino Milan store was designed by Andrea Tognon and Jeremy Scott”I was inspired by the rich history of ancient Italy and the beauty and decadent opulence of its design,” said Scott.
      “Sometimes we start to design from memories, sometimes from form, materials and colours,” added Andrea Tognon Architecture founder Andrea Tognon.

      “For this project, I started only from words.”
      It is located within a recently renovated retail hubThe Milan flagship spans two floors and covers 380 square metres.
      Its ground floor is dedicated to the brand’s women’s ready-to-wear collections and accessories, while its first floor is dedicated to its men’s and kid’s collections.
      Oversized columns and capitals fill the storeThroughout the interior, Andrea Tognon Architecture used rich materials that speak to Moschino’s baroque flair, which was also highlighted through decorative and oversized architectural elements.
      A checkered floor constructed from Botticino marble and green stone, sourced from Brazil, covers the ground floor retail area while the above floors were clad in yellow Siena marble.

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      A vast stone spiral staircase connects the two floors of retail space and forms a continuation of the oversized checkered floor – with the tread and rise of each step similarly clad in green stone and marble.
      Patinated brass lighting stretches rhythmically in horizontal rows across the ceiling of the store. Curving tubular display rails line the boundaries of the interior and were constructed in the same brass finish.
      Marble and stone cover the floorsPops of colour were introduced to the interior through bright yellow lacquered wood shelving that flank the walls of the store and follow its curving profile.
      Oversized columns and capitals were placed throughout the interior and function as furniture and display areas for the brand’s products and accessories.
      It was designed to reference the ancient history of ItalyAlso scattered throughout the store are additional custom furniture pieces that were created by Scott in homage to Moschino’s founder Franco Moschino.
      These tables combine two tables which were spliced in the middle, joined together and decorated with marble tops and gold leaf ornamentation.
      Pops of colours were incorporated throughout the storeLast week news broke that Jeremy Scott was leaving Moschino after a decade-long tenure at the Milanese fashion house. In 2020, Scott replaced models at his Spring Summer 2021 show with puppets that wore the brand’s womenswear collection.
      Elsewhere in Milan, London design studios Brinkworth and The Wilson Brothers created a caravan-shaped artist studio for Marni’s flagship store in the Italian city.
      The photography is by Adriano Mura.

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      Demountable electric-blue grid engulfs On-Off store interior in Milan

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      Italian architect Francesca Perani has teamed up with design studio Bloomscape to create a reversible fit-out for this clothing store in Milan, which is dominated by a flexible gridded shelving system.

      Perani and Bloomscape installed the grid with its moveable shelves as a way to let the On-Off store effortlessly change its display arrangements.
      A gridded blue framework covers the entire interior of Milan’s On-Off storeIt was also a matter of making the store reversible, meaning that the fit-out could be easily dismantled should the retailer move on to a different site, saving waste and leaving behind a clean slate for the next occupier.
      “Too often, the world of retail is still insensitive to sustainability; its lifecycle, however, is too short to continue being ignored,” explained Bloomscape co-founder Rosario Distaso.
      Concrete chimney blocks form display plinths and benchesThe gridded framework comprises beams of poplar wood surrounded by metal frames that were anodised to produce a vivid electric-blue colour.

      The system runs along the walls and across the store’s ceiling, allowing On-Off to hang wayfinding signage.
      Shelves can be moved around in the framework to create different displaysAll of the shelves can be pulled out or slotted in at different points of the framework.
      A fixed wooden clothes rail runs between two of the columns, allowing the hung garments to appear almost as part of the store’s architecture.

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      As the team was working with a limited budget, just a handful of materials were applied throughout the rest of On-Off.
      The same metal-clad poplar wood was used to create freestanding clothing rails that appear at the edges of the store. Sheets of poplar also form the top of the store’s display plinths and bench seats, which have chimney cement blocks for a base.
      Mirrored panels clad the store’s cash register deskAt the rear of the floor plan is a mirror-clad cash register, set against a wall lined with translucent polycarbonate sheets.
      More panels of polycarbonate were used to enclose On-Off’s changing rooms, with a shiny silver curtain suspended in front of each cubicle for privacy.
      Polycarbonate walls and silver curtains feature in the changing roomsOther striking retail spaces in Milan include the Marni flagship with its very own artists’ studio and IoNoi – a hybrid store and gallery dedicated to the work of Italian designer Fabio Novembre.
      The photography is courtesy of Francesca Perani.

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      Vipp transforms 13th-century Italian palazzo into pop-up “liveable installation”

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      Interior designer Julie Cloos Mølsgaard has created a pop-up hotel filled with Italian frescos and modern Scandinavian furniture for Danish homeware brand Vipp within Palazzo Monti in Brescia, Italy.

      The collaboration with Vipp saw the Palazzo Monti, which is an artist residency foundation hosted in a 13th-century palace, transformed into a hotel for guests to stay overnight.
      Palazzo Monti was converted into a pop-up hotelThe space was redesigned into a hotel suites focused on showcasing Vipp products.
      Mølsgaard added minimalist furniture and lighting by Vipp to the interior spaces, aiming to complement the historic building, which features Baroque paintings from 1750 on its walls and ceilings.
      The rooms were decorated with minimalist furniture”Palazzo Monti showcases a broad array of art exhibitions,” said Palazzo Monti founder Edoardo Monti.

      “For the first time, we will host a liveable installation curated by Vipp, where we invite guests to check into our residency,” he continued.
      “Entering the opulent gates of the palazzo is like stepping into an old master’s painting.”
      The staircase is surrounded by frescos on the walls and ceiling”For the pop-up hotel at the palazzo, Mølsgaard had an ambition of building a bridge between the minimalist and the opulent,” said Vipp CEO Kasper Egelund.
      “Vipp and Mølsgaard approached the interior design with a simple and minimalist mindset to respect and not compete with the surrounding richness.”
      Green tiles cover the kitchen floorOn the ground floor is a combined kitchen and dining area. Mølsgaard added an industrial-looking matte black kitchen island in the middle of the space, which sits under an ornate ceiling and atop a green-tiled floor.
      A grand staircase surrounded by pastel frescoes leads visitors to the pop-up hotel on the first floor.

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      A succession of rooms – a hallway, salon and bedroom – were transformed into a suite decorated with Vipp furniture and lighting.
      The furniture in the bedroom was intended to be simple and minimalist. The mattress sits on the floor without a bedframe, making the painted three-metre-high ceiling the main focus of the room.
      “The idea is that guests should visit and explore the space,” Mølsgaard told Dezeen. “When you wake up under the frescoes, it’s impossible not to think, what kind of life must have been lived in this house?”
      Artwork was placed on the floorThroughout the palazzo, artwork and picture frames were placed on the floor propped up against the walls, rather than being hung.
      “We initially hung a lot of art on the walls, but it was making too much noise, so instead I have sought the purity of the history of the place and wanted to let it speak through the bare walls,” said Mølsgaard.
      Mølsgaard aimed to combine Scandinavian minimalism with Italian opulence”The whole place is one big art piece,” she continued. “The staircase is a work of art, the doors are works of art, the shutters, the walls and the ceilings.”
      “When you walk around the rooms, you simply experience so many things that you almost get overloaded, so there was something that had to be removed.”
      Vipp launched a special edition chair for the pop-upArtist workshops on the second floor of the building overlook Brescia, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
      To celebrate the pop-up hotel at Palazzo Monti, Vipp launched the Monti Edition chair, which sees the brand’s Swivel chair design upholstered in an Italian woven fabric created by textile company Torri Lana.
      The pop-up hotel at Palazzo Monti opens on 18 April to coincide with Milan furniture fair Salone del Mobile and closes on 18 May 2023.
      Vipp and Mølsgaard have previously collaborated on projects including a one-room hotel in a converted pencil factory and a pop-up supper club venue.
      The photography is by Irina Boersma César Machado.

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      Fendi introduces modern furnishings to Rome's historic Villa Medici

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      Italian fashion brand Fendi has teamed up with the French Academy in Rome to refresh six salons inside the Villa Medici – a 16th-century Renaissance palace set amongst sprawling gardens in the heart of Rome.

      The villa has been home to the French Academy in Rome since 1803, and today is used by the French art institute to host creative residencies and public art programmes.
      Fendi has introduced new furnishings to Rome’s Villa MediciThe building’s salons had not been significantly modified in some 20 years, leading the academy to initiate a revamp in the hopes of establishing a better connection between the centuries-old rooms and contemporary design.
      Fendi was brought on board to consult on Villa Medici’s interior scheme alongside Mobilier National – France’s national furniture collection and conservation agency.
      The project also saw the academy call in French architect Pierre-Antoine Gatier to restore some decorative features of the Grand Salon, while conservation specialist Bobin Tradition carried out preservation work on the building’s existing wall hangings.

      Umbrella pine trees informed the shape of the table in the Salon des PensionnairesFendi’s artistic director of couture and womenswear Kim Jones worked with Silvia Venturini Fendi, the brand’s artistic director of accessories and menswear, as well as Mobilier National to curate a selection of modern French and Italian furnishings for the salons.
      Many of the pieces were pulled from Fendi Casa, the brand’s homeware collection, and chosen for their ability to slot in amongst the building’s existing heritage pieces and classical artworks.
      Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance’s tables for the Salon Bleu mimic ancient Roman paving slabsThe focal point of the Petit Salon is now a huge modular sofa by Milan-based designer Toan Nguyen, upholstered in a rust-orange fabric that matches the colour of the walls.
      Over in the Salon des Pensionnaires is a table by French designer Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance. This is supported by spindly black legs, which resemble the branches of Rome’s ubiquitous umbrella pine trees.
      The slightly moodier feel of this room is complemented by grey-blue sofas and armchairs by Italian designer Chiara Andreatti.

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      Duchaufour-Lawrance was also responsible for crafting the tables found in the villa’s Salon de Lecture and Salon Bleu, shaped to look like the time-worn paving slabs of the Appian Way – one of the oldest roads that lead to Rome.
      The Grand Salon houses rows of the sinuous Belleville chair, created by French design pair Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra.
      Contemporary chairs were added to the building’s Salon de MusiqueBoth here and in the other salons, Fendi and Mobilier National introduced tapestries from well-known artists including Louise Bourgeois, Sheila Hicks and Sonia Delaunay.
      Acoustic panels by Devialet were tucked behind selected artworks to discreetly enhance the sound quality inside the villa.
      Seats by the Bouroullec brothers line the Grand SalonOver the past few years, high-end fashion designers have become increasingly involved with interior design projects.
      In London, Roksanda Ilincic and Bella Freud applied their respective styles to two separate penthouse apartments, while Jasquemus founder Simon Porte Jacquemus has devised a summery interior scheme for a restaurant in Paris.
      The photography is by Silvia Rivoltella.

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      Cocktail bar “suspended between sea and sky” draws upon nearby Mediterranean

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      Architect Gae Avitabile has designed the interior of Civico 29, a sea-informed cocktail bar in the coastal town of Sperlonga, Italy.

      Located halfway between Rome and Naples on Italy’s western coast, the bar features colours and materials informed by the nearby seafront, with blue motifs and wave-like forms dominating the space.
      Gae Avitabile designed Civico 29 to mimic the experience of being on a beachAvitabile transformed the oceanside building, which previously contained an ice cream parlour, into a bar that aims to recreate the sensory experience of being on a beach.
      “The space was used as a gelato ice cream parlour with simple, traditional interiors which were not evocative of the location,” Avitabile told Dezeen.
      “Not being able to work on spaces and volumes – both in physical terms due to the small size, and because of the limits imposed by the council – I changed my point of view and began to think in terms of a project which would find its own dimension in multi-sensoriality,” he continued.

      “For me, the sea is light and colour, sound, touch, taste and smell.”
      The space was transformed into blue-toned cocktail barThe project was heavily influenced by the local area and uses a minimal material palette.
      “The materials are unusual for the setting, and have been chosen to give life to my multi-sensory project,” Avitabile commented. “Despite this, the perception is that of strong links with the location.”
      An outdoor terrace has seating overlooking the seaVisitors enter through a wide opening that leads to the main space. The room contains a long bar with a wave-like form coated in a blue gradient that mirrors the view of the ocean outside.
      “The bar, its sinuous shape reminiscent of the movement of the waves, is an implicit reference to the sea and draws inspiration from the area’s great pieces of architecture,” said Avitabile.

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      A lamp by Munari inspired by fish traps is suspended over the counter, contained in a white metal mesh structure, while a layer of traditional European hollow bricks filled with white lime and covered with resin lines the floor.
      A white lamp and a blue mesh curtain feature in the spaceSurrounding the space is an aluminium mesh curtain created by Kriskadecor that lines two of the four walls, chosen by Avitabile due to its movement being reflective of coastal breezes.
      “[The curtain] moves with gusts of wind and creates an elegant sound reminiscent of a coastal breeze,” Avitabile commented.
      A small bathroom sits beside the main bar spaceTo the side of the main space is a small bathroom with wallpaper coated in exotic motifs. Large openings on the opposite side of the bar lead to an outdoor seating area overlooking the ocean.
      “I deliberately avoided indoor seating, partly due to the small area available, and partly because enjoying the panorama remains the linchpin of this project,” said Avitabile.
      Other cocktail bars featured on Dezeen include a Shanghai bar covered in over 1,000 insects by Atelier XY and a gender-neutral cocktail bar and salon in Kyiv designed by Balbek Bureau
      The photography is by Carlo Oriente.

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