A NEW CORNER FOR BURBERRY

A NEW CORNER FOR BURBERRY

Quickly and with a structured time schedule, a Corner of the Tiziana Fausti store in Bergamo was replaced by a new brand.

burberry corner front

CORNERS AND FASHION

introducing the concept of Corners we can say that they are single-brand exhibition spaces and are a mirror of the products displayed inside them.
In fact, Designers and Architects linked to the Fashion Atelier are working hardly to express the identity and image of the Brand.
The corners are used by the Brand to facilitate the direct control in terms of assortment, sales staff and visual merchandising.
Furthermore, Brand Loyalty improves, and the consumer is able to more clearly distinguish the value of the brand and the product they are going to buy.
However, a Corner has a short duration, of a few years, and is then usually updated or replaced.

burberry corner interior
burberry corner bergamo

CREATION OF A WHITE BOX FOR BURBERRY

In this case, after a few years, it was decided to replace the Corner of the Brand Stella McCartney in the Tiziana Fausti store with the Burberry one.
Once the change was defined, the Architects of the Maison had presented a design of the space, which was then approved by the property.
Usually, the furnishings of the Brand are supplied by a chosen company that takes care of all the dedicated Retail spaces.

Our task was therefore to create a White Box, which we also talked about in our old article, and to act as General Contractor.
All the useful actors for the replacement of the Corner were then recruited and the process followed step by step.

THE WORK SCHEDULE

Once defined the changes and the new arrangements to be created, the work scheduling as followed.
The replacement of a Corner must be quick so as not to preclude the normal sales trend of the shop.
The agreed program in fact included no more than two weeks of work. When the X date arrived, the Corner was isolated with a varnished wooden closing barrier, to preserve the nearby spaces from dust and allow a normal flow within the interested area.

closing barrier
Once the space was emptied, with the removal of plasterboard and floor, the foundations of the new Corner were set.
These began with the laying of the floor as a work of art, followed by the grouting, the first coat of primer on the walls and the change of the light tracks on the ceiling.
On the outside, the full-height black panel of the old Brand has been replaced with that one of Burberry, its logo laser cut and backlit by an opal plexiglass.
corner disassembly
corner floor laying
 laying of entrance tiles

At the end of the first week, the White Box was completed and all the electrical arrangements, including those for the illuminated sign on the wall, ready for the next actors.

front with new panel
positioning of electrical predispositions

The second week was fully reserved to the Lisar Company, who installed the new custom-made furnishings.
Bronze hangers recall the profiles of the central display cabinet, the backlit shelves and the baseboards on the ground.
The white furniture with some hints of color links the bronze with the beige and monochrome tiles in an elegant and austere way are best reflecting the British spirit of the Brand.

new mounting furniture
new mounting furniture

At the end of our time schedule, the last day was dedicated to supervision by Burberry, who checked the smallest detail and gave the green light to the inauguration of the space.
Here are the photos of the Burberry Corner, inaugurated in less than two weeks, after the intervention of the Visual Designers who exhibited the garments in an impeccable way.

Corner furnished
Burberry corner
interior Burberry corner

At this link the old article of the Tiziana Fausti shop’s Corners, in which Stella McCartney is present, if you want to compare the differences with the new space set up.

Funeral House

Funeral House

The Funeral House was recently inaugurated in Bergamo, a solemn but at the same time intimate and delicate place, intended to give the last farewell to loved ones.

Funeral House entrance

THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE PLACE

The structure, built within the urban context, becomes a living and integral part of the community with its strong stylistic and architectural connotation.
Given the nature of the large spaces, the feelings transmitted are one of tranquility and protection, with lounges dedicated to meditation and sharing.

There is a Laical room and a Room for the ceremony for the delivery of the ashes and Private rooms.

Laical Room
Funeral House private room

The lighting plays a fundamental role, it comes both from the outside, slightly obscured by smoked glass, and from the inside, expertly designed so that it is punctual but not excessive.
Round ceiling lights in the corridor part are flanked by sophisticated design chandeliers at the entrance and in the rooms.
All the light is dimmable to ensure that moments of wakefulness and intimacy are distinguished from others as the day progresses.

light details
ceiling wall lighting

Onyx-effect tiles are the material protagonists of the environment, covering most of the full-height walls.
These are combined with the soft gray stoneware on the floor and the dove-gray upholstery for the Laical Room.
The decorative fil rouge of all the rooms is walnut declined in the form of floor-to-ceiling slats. These are found in different points of the structure, marking its visual rhythms.

Funeral House entrance

A dedicated space has been created for children with a library made up of titles selected by Ursula Gruner for age groups.
This sweet thought for the little ones can be a valuable help to accompany them in understanding the importance of that moment.

space for children
books for childrens

OUR WORK

We took care of some of the furnishing elements of this imposing structure.
Mainly of the two executive offices, whose goal is to make them operational and functional while maintaining overall elegance and a sense of lightness.
Since the entire Funeral House is very characterized in terms of elements, colors and materials, a very neutral project was opted for.
In fact, the furniture, which has the same delicate color as the walls, disappears inside the two rooms and serves only as a logistical support.

big office

Doors and drawers hide folders, files and all the bureaucratic aspect of the structure, leaving only two light tables with a bronze structure in sight.
Here is another example of an office with a similar table structure but in stainless steel finish.
In the smaller office, the furniture from the niches develops in an equipped lateral extension that reaches the table, remaining at its side with a chest of drawers and internal shelves available.
The piece of furniture where the desk rests can be accessed from the side, next to another tall shelf unit.

 small vertical studio funeral house
smal studio lateral
details corner

In the second office, larger than the previous one, the furniture is developed in a U shape, using the niche of the large window as the largest equipped surface.
Here, in the center, there are drawers and doors with internal shelves, while the two side becomes an extension and display case for small marble objects and cinerary urns.
The representative table with bronze painted iron structure and medium gray top in Linoleum is positioned exactly under the spot lighting from the ceiling.

big office
details expo
details table bronze funeral house

Inside the Private rooms, small storage cabinets equip the room without visually invading it.

drawer units in the funeral house niche
drawer units in the farewell house niche

The consoles and tables of the rooms are based on our design, which have been skillfully made in painted folded sheet metal. The design concept was to obtain a light, load-bearing and unobtrusive structure. The console features two side legs with an inverted X structure, in which the narrow rectangular section of the structure changes its axis and is combined with the wide one. This allows for visual movement by varying the perspective of the element. An elegant slab of onyx-effect stoneware has been recessed into the top of the console, on which the Book of signatures will be placed. The same structure, combined with two “cross” side defines the low tables. The base of the latter recall the one of the consoles while the top is made in a round and thin sheet metal. As the color of both a slightly bronzed dark brown, which recalls the fixtures and finishes of the structure.

leg's console
consolle lateral

THE INAUGURATION OF THE FUNERAL HOUSE

The presentation of the Casa del Commiato was also innovative and interesting. The first access to the public was in fact crowned by a short but intense exhibition, Wish You Were Here. Here the works of 23 artists dealt with a delicate theme such as death, in empty and not yet furnished rooms. “An intimate and spiritual journey of the analysis of absence but also an attempt to crystallize and make eternal that extraordinary emotional tension that originates from the pain of loss, transforming it into a regenerating force. Through the powerful connotation of the place, the artists’ works resonate with the themes of infinity, beyond, melancholy, tension and desire, ensuring that even a painful concept such as absence can become a positive engine of creative production “. (cit. Gabriele Salvaterra) In the Laical Room an installation by Noemi Mirata shows a dying body give way to a new plant life, which rises upwards. On the back screen a video of Elisabetta di Sopra in which the gestures in caring for a life that is born and one that goes are repeated.

Noemi Mirata, La fisica dell’oltre Elisabetta Di Sopra, THE CARE

In the front La fisica dell’oltre Noemi Mirata. Video installation Elisabetta Di Sopra, THE CARE 

At the center of the large corridor is the work of Martina Cioffi made of raku ceramic. The sculpture tends to evoke a powerful nature, mixed animal and vegetable, creative and fruitful.

Martina Cioffi, Shape-shifting #1
Martina Cioffi, Shape-shifting #1

Martina Cioffi, Shape-shifting #1 

In the smaller office the dreamlike work of Lorenzo D’Alba, in which two alien creatures find their natural habitat in empty space. In the larger office, the photographic series by Lidia Bianchi in which the memory of her father is mixed with Pierpaolo Pasolini’s thoughts on fireflies, a sign of the loss of an original nature, naivety, and amazement.

Lorenzo D'Alba
Lidia Bianchi

Lorenzo D’Alba Echinus and Lidia Bianchi Sono Tornate le Lucciole

These are just some of the installations of the exhibition that developed within all the rooms of the Funeral House. The inauguration took place between 25 and 28 March, exactly two years after the first lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which especially hit Bergamo and prevented many families from being able to greet their deceased with dignity. After two long years, Generali Onoranze Funebri and the Centro Funerario Bergamasco open a place, in the heart of the city, where death can find space and be included in life.

How a kitchen takes life: the phases of realization

How a kitchen takes life: the phases of realization

Discovering bespoke furniture, have you ever wondered what are the phases of realization that give life to a kitchen? We are ready to show you our creation and production process! The design of a custom-made kitchen is born from the meeting between the customer’s wishes and personality and the designer’s experience, capable of satisfying the functional and aesthetic needs of both. What the customer sees is the transformation of the project, shown in its most satisfying graphic form, into a finished and complete product. However, there is a world behind the creation of a kitchen: from the artisan production phase, with boards with strong resistance and workability, to the painting of the components, from transport with packaging to final assembly. Let’s follow the production process of this minimal kitchen.

design phase perspective phase

The design: a continuous dialogue with the customer

The design of this kitchen stems from the need to optimize spaces in an environment already strongly characterized by floors with geometric marble patterns. The presence of a relevant flooring has given rise to a project that responds to the same chromatic characteristics. In this way, the minimal line of this kitchen is born. Here, the lower volumes and upper wall units in matt white lacquered MDF give brightness and freshness. The black marble top houses the built-in sink and the induction hob, transforming into a splash back and side back. The vertical reading wall units holds the hidden lighting that is also reflected by the white Lacobel splash back. The graphic rendering of the project allows you to get an idea of ​​the general layout of the kitchen, studying the different components based on the best practicality. We try color and material combinations and studies alternatives in the volumetric composition. In this phase, the ability to read and interpret the client’s wishes is essential for the designer. On the other hand, the customer plays an active role, becoming an integral part of the design team. The best projects are in fact those that do not stop at the first solution, but undertake new design challenges, evolving from time to time following the brainstorming between the client and the designer.

design phase top view
Minimal kitchen Verona design  front

From the design offices to the lab: the executives

Once approved and defined in the smallest detail, the kitchen project goes directly to our laboratory, ready for the construction phase. The three-dimensional model developed during the design phase is reworked to take on a new look. From a graphic and realistic setting, it is transformed into a functional model from which the executive tables are processed to be addressed to our artisans. After an accurate on-site survey, where electrical predispositions, discharge and existing constraints are highlighted, the model is adapted and designed in detail. Extremely simple designs that give up their aesthetic presentation in favor of greater clarity of reading. Dimensions, cuts and joints are underlined to make the realization cleaner. Our kitchen is therefore broken down, from a three-dimensional model in digital format to A3 tables with plants and elevations so that the experience of our craftsmen can give life to the actual realization.

Between cuts and painting: the realization in laboratory

The MDF boards are cut with special machinery preparing the joints for household appliances and related attachment points. Any special processes are carried out with the numerical control machine or with the pantograph, at rest during this project. In the meantime, our guys in the internal painting department prepare the samples with the different chromatic shades. There are infinite shades of each color,. Even of white, that contextualized in an interior can give life to different effects and perceptions. Once the cutting of the single components is finished, the assembly test takes place. Screws, hinges and drawer guides now come into play by verifying the right composition of the kitchen, which is in full construction phase. If our bespoke furniture passes the assembly test, the components are broken down again and passed to the painting compartment.

minimal kitchen realization
painting laboratory
laboratorio piallatura
assembly test Minimal kitchen Verona
Assembly test laboratory

Traveling to the final destination

The different components are ready to undertake on their journey. The packaging is careful and punctual, ready to foresee and avoid damage during transport. The load is organized in order to optimize the movements, whether it is short distances or in the case of international travel. Packed properly and accompanied by all the appliances required, our kitchen leaves for Verona, ready for the big day of presentation to the customer. Expert hands and assembly tool kits quickly shape our minimal kitchen. The load-bearing structures for wall units and lower volumes are prepared, to which the various external components are gradually added. Lighting under the wall unit, handles with aluminum shell, shelves with rods for height adjustment. All details that now become fundamental for the final realization of the kitchen. Once the assembly is complete, broom hands, dustpan, vacuum cleaner and good hand works. Everything is cleaned from dust and work shavings, removing any protections and any construction site structures. And here it is, bright and minimal, functional and able to accommodate products and foods of all kinds.

assembly phase Minimal kitchen Verona 01
assembly phase Minimal kitchen Verona 02
assembly phase Minimal kitchen Verona 03
assembly phase Minimal kitchen Verona 04

A minimal kitchen: the final product

The day of the official presentations has finally arrived. The black marble top chromatically contrasts the lower volumes and white lacquered wall units. Different storage points ensure space optimization with removable trays and baskets but also height-adjustable internal shelves. The drawers for cutlery, table linen and pots are designed in different heights depending on their use. The recessed handle makes the aesthetic impact elegant and essential, while the white painted shell ensures greater durability and resistance over time. Upper shelves are perfect for small objects, visually lightening the terminal part of the wall units. In this way the natural light diffused by the side window spreads freely in the space giving a touch of freshness. After viewing the finished product with the customer, with a good handshake and the wish for a next collaboration, we come back to the base, ready for new challenges! Other projects are already under construction and willing to become reality. To continue your journey discovering the creation of a kitchen, you can learn more about the types of cladding: an Emperador marble kitchen and a kitchen entirely steel covered.

finished product minimal kitchen
windows view kitchen
refrigerator view minimal kitchen
recessed handle drawers detail

An Emperador Marble kitchen

An Emperador Marble kitchen

A monolithic kitchen, entirely covered in marble, shows all its elegance in a project that emphasizes such a precious and distinctive material. Walls and surfaces, in Emperador marble, are recognized for their very dense and varied white and beige streaks on a warm gray / brown background. Such a sophisticated design line can only be accompanied by modern and innovative mechanisms.

THE PROJECT

The renderings provided by Tanya Kutzmina, a cosmopolitan Russian designer we had the pleasure of working with, immediately show the intrinsic characteristics of the project. The concept of the master kitchen, part of an open space, encloses high walls and monolithic surfaces in an ambivalent environment, inert at first glance but able to transform itself into an equipped and representative kitchen for the guests of the house when needed. Two types of marble alternate in this large space. On the one hand, Emperador dark marble, which symbolically defines the functional parts of the kitchen, becoming a scenographic setting for “acting”. On the other, Emperador light marble, clear and bright, which amplifies the perception of the environment by reflecting the light of the large windows and embodies the essence of everyday life. Living and acting therefore become the reading keys not only of the stylistic composition of the rooms, but also define the way to relate to them.

marble kitchen render 01
marble kitchen render 02
kitchen island  sliding mechanism
Emperador marble kitchen render 02

THE COMPOSITION

The structure of the marble kitchen is an island and the central monolith opens with a drag mechanism that becomes a snack corner. Opening, it also shows a cooking area with three different types of fires: induction – teppanyaki – grill. On the internal front there are drawers entirely covered in the same marble and equipped with cutlery holders, crockery holders and potholders. Above it stands a splendid custom-made hood in stainless steel, as large as the island, equipped with filters and LED lights. All made with laser cuts and remote engine preparation. The dark marble of the island spreads into the floor and flows into the back wall. An ingenious book system opens the central doors folding up into two side compartments and revealing a broken interior that houses a sink, a dishwasher, baskets inside the doors, an oven column and exposed shelves with underlying LED lighting. The stainless steel top and back give a touch of modernity between the eternal elegance of the Emperador dark marble with which the surrounding surfaces are covered. On both sides, two large and spacious refrigerators enclose the central block of the kitchen. The covering of the Emperador light doors continues along the entire adjacent wall, hiding an access door to the second service kitchen. At the center of the room, a huge table stands for several diners in dark Emperador with bases made to measure in stainless steel and marble. These counterbalance both visually and physically the grand plan.

 
Emperador marble kitchen Moscow
island render Moscow project
island project Moscow 02
Emperador marble kitchen Moscow
island render Moscow project
island project Moscow 02

THE REALIZATION

Creating this kitchen was a new, arduous and stimulating experience. We accepted the challenge by finding solutions to the various executive problems that immediately arose. Among these, the union of two materials, wood and marble, so different in finishes, weights and typological characteristics. Obtaining the dynamism of the kitchen, with mechanisms suitable for the fluid movement of the parts and the arrangements on site for their perfect functioning with different materials and systems, required a lot of attention and an active collaboration with Tanya in Moscow, who followed the construction site. The marble, which was provided to us by Marmi Galli, a company with which we have been collaborating for long time, was used in 2 distinct thicknesses: 20 mm with 45° cuts to cover all the structures, and 5 mm thick screened for the application on the retractable doors to guarantee the functioning of the mechanisms with respect to the weight. We have taken great care of the quality of the mechanisms and the guides, both manual and motorized, especially for the doors of the shelf and the island snack top. We leave this video of Tanya the task of accompanying you in the living area and guiding you to the kitchen. Seeing it accomplished is a great emotion for us and awards our commitment.

The Moscow marble kitchen project fits perfectly into the series of single-material projects we have made. Among them, a kitchen entirely covered in steel.

 

Surfaces from the textures with asymmetric geometries

Surfaces from the textures with asymmetric geometries

A particular work of the surfaces to give a quid to the elements that relate within in the same environment.

bedroom general view

A particular work of the surfaces to give a quid to the elements that relate within in the same environment.CONCEPT

To create aesthetic dynamism we worked on the details of three elements, two bedside tables and a chest of drawers, that as to be inserted in an already furnished room. The environment was already defined by a full-height wardrobe in lacquered MDF in the same white as the side walls and facing a back wall with a dominant color, an acid green. We wanted to keep white as the base color, but with some peculiarities: we brushed the wood and finished it with white open-pore water-based paint, so that its veins could be glimpsed.  

WORKING PROCESS

Is to underline the great initial work, the one of cutting the surfaces like the project and joint them in their various pieces by changing the inclination of the ash vein and keeping the direction of the cut also on the adjacent sides. The result is poetic, the cuts become the thread of a blade that rests on the three elements and tries to cut them in its three-dimensionality. The drawers are push-open, reached 45 ° and the drawer air corresponds to the thickness of our fake cut. These distinctive details do not shout their presence, but are noticeable only when you approach these elements and analyze them better. Inserted in the room, they blend perfectly with the general context. The particular design wheels are made by OgTM, the model is Moebius in his acid green color, like our characteristic back wall. We present some images of the work in progress with the elements assembled and not yet painted and then the finished pieces inlaid in the environment.

surfaces treatments night tables
surfaces treatments night tables 02
night tables front view asymmetric surfaces
night table front view
night table side view
bedroom general view 02
closure detail night tables
wheels detail night tables
surfaces detail night tables

A kitchen entirely steel covered

A kitchen entirely steel covered

A kitchen completely covered in steel but with a soul to discover.

STRUCTURE

Sometimes when in front of our eyes there is a piece of furniture entirely covered with a material, it is assumed that that external material is the only one used in its composition, it is not easy to thought that behind that facade there may be a skeleton of a different material that creates its structure and defines its entity. Here we want to show you how we have created a kitchen completely covered in stainless steel destined to a client in Boston.

CONSTRUCTION STEP

First point, the internal modular structure: in the central part, the elements of  sink, dishwasher, hob and all our storage elements. In the upper part the wall units and on the side the columns hosting other storage elements and appliances, such as ovens and a refrigerator. For some elements, a back is not necessary, as in the case of the refrigerating column, because the element will be perfectly inserted inside and it will have access to the electrical outlets on the walls.

kitchen steel assembly step 01
front view lab phase

Then the bases, the rear elements and the doors are made. The whole structure is made of wood and, once assembled, with precise millimeter drawings, all the covers of the various elements are made of very thin stainless steel sheets. these will completely cover, without weighing down, our skeleton. Here are some pictures of the kitchen ready to be dismantled and shipped overseas. On each steel element is visible a protective film in order to preserve its surface from scratches and accidental impacts.

 
stell kitchen with protective film
assembly test lab phase

And here are the latest images of our kitchen assembled on site, in a general view and in a more specific detailed one, which highlights how, in the upper part, our structure perfectly follows the exposed beams of the ceiling. The recessed handles that characterize the entire kitchen are also clearly visible.

steel kitchen on place
covering details

CONCLUSIONS

To conclude, never take anything for granted! Behind every realization there is a great job that concerns multiple aspects. From the management of impeccably precise executive measures, to the creation of complex structures that support and enhance the materials used in the final result.