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This video, shared exclusively with Dezeen, shows the living area of a Milanese apartment by Memphis Group founder Ettore Sottsass being dismantled and rebuilt inside the city’s Triennale di Milano museum. More
Italian fashion brand Sunnei has renovated the interior of an ex-recording studio to create a minimalist headquarters as a canvas for furniture and art pieces by the brand’s collaborators. More
Design and architecture agency Studiopepe references Milan’s offices and metro stations in its revamp of the fourth floor of the city’s renowned luxury department store La Rinascente. More
Valencian creative studio Masquespacio has used a lilac and avocado-green colour scheme to create a youthful yet “sophisticated” interior for the Milan outpost of Italian fast food chain Bun. More
Passersby can perch in the facade of Italian marble brand Marsotto’s new showroom in Milan, which has been designed by multidisciplinary studio Nendo.From afar, the front of Marsotto’s showroom in Milan’s Brera district looks as if it’s sealed up by blocks of veiny white marble.
To achieve this, Nendo lined the entire facade – including the flush front door – in marble tiles, being careful to set them in line with the existing stonework on the building.
Top image: people can perch in the showroom’s facade. Above: the facade appears to be sealed up with marble
At one point the tiles dip inwards to form a small nook where passersby on the street can sit.
“Because the traffic circle facing the showroom will soon be greened and turned into a small park, part of the facade was made into impromptu street furniture with a soft recess on it, in the hopes that neighbours might sit as if on a bench and rest for a spell,” Nendo explained.
A flush-set door can be pushed back to reveal the showroom’s entryway
Beyond the showroom’s front door lies a small white-painted entryway. Pale marble has been used again here to cover the floor and to form a screen which obscures the staircase leading down to the basement.
The screen is made up of two overlapping slabs of 10-millimetre-thick marble, each punctuated with holes that measure 65 millimetres wide.
“The partition’s tempered transparency and lightness reduce the oppressiveness of the marble constitution, softly drawing visitors to the basement exhibition space,” the studio added.
A perforated marble screen hides the staircase to the basement
Downstairs, the showroom has been divided into four different rooms. To keep a majority of the floor area free to accommodate different exhibitions, Nendo created three-sided display plinths that sit in the corner of the rooms.
Each of them is backlit with bright-white strip lights.
Products are presented on three-sided display plinths
Some of the plinths dramatically curve inwards to form a half-moon shape. One of these has been used to present sample blocks of different types of marble that Marsotto offers.
Stool seats in matching finishes are displayed in a row underneath.
Steel and concrete steps cut through facade of Stairway House by Nendo
Another room in the basement has been kit-out with one of Marsotto’s dining tables and wall-mounted shelves so that, when necessary, it can be used to host lunch meetings.
Some of the display plinths curve inwards into a half-moon shape
This isn’t the first time that Nendo has worked with Marsotto. For the 2016 edition of Milan Design Week, the design studio created an exhibition space for the marble brand that was half white, half black – furniture was arranged to match.
Four years ago Nendo also came up with the Sway table for Marsotto. Designed to “provide a new expression of agility to marble”, the table looks as if it’s tilting to one side.
Photography is by Hiroki Tagma.
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Fashion brand Off-White’s first store in Milan uses natural materials to add warmth to a paired-back store that has white walls broken by Patagonia granite cabinets.Located on Via Verri in Milan, the 400-square-metre Off-White store opened in September and will sell menswear, womenswear and homeware. According to the brand, which is led by fashion designer Virgil Abloh, the boutique “embraces earthy yet elegant minimalism”.
Top: a wooden log adds an organic feel to the entrance. Above: wall niches are clad in Patagonia granite
Organic materials were used across the store, with a “fallen” tree log placed near the store’s entrance and granite cabinets used to display products.
The theme is carried through into the second ground floor room, where wooden plinths were used to create an installation to showcase Off-White accessories and shoes.
Wooden plinths show Off-White accessories
Throughout the ground floor womenswear section, travertine flooring is partly covered by rose-coloured rugs featuring the brand’s logo.
Display cases were kept simple and modernist in polished steel and glass, but the brand chose wall niches clad in Patagonia granite to add interest to the clean walls and underline the organic feel of the space.
The menswear floor features green hues
The upstairs floor houses the menswear section, which has a different colour palette to differentiate it from the womenswear section.
Floor rugs are evergreen instead of rose and a pale green hue is picked up in the wall niches.
Wooden blocks are used for seating
Wooden and marble blocks and granite plinths show off the brand’s accessories, while the men’s ready-to-wear is displayed on steel racks.
Virgil Abloh and AMO design flexible flagship Off-White store in Miami that “can host a runway show”
The final room in the store, which houses Off-White’s homeware collection, features silk wallpaper and travertine flooring as well as wooden display stands and wall niches.
The homeware section has simple wood display cases and stands
Though this is the brand’s first store in the city, Off-White’s design studio is already based in Milan.
“With a design studio based in Milan, Italy, the label harnesses the history and craftsmanship within the country yet offers a global perspective in terms of design and trends,” said the brand.
Off-White Milan is on Via Verri
Off-White also recently unveiled its first Miami store, a flexible flagship that “can host a runway show”. In addition, Off-White opened the doors to its first stand-alone store in London in September.
Abloh, who was a judge for the 2019 Dezeen Awards, works on numerous projects outside Off-White and recently teamed up with Mercedes Benz to create a conceptual version of the Mercedes‑Benz G‑Class car.
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Plaster walls, terracotta tiles and powder-blue details feature within 28 Posti, a restaurant in Milan that has been revamped by architect and designer Cristina Celestino. 28 Posti serves up a selection of contemporary Mediterranean dishes to an intimate group of diners – something hinted at in the restaurant’s name, which translates from Italian to “28 […] More
