Celebrating with Castiglioni

Drinking new, Asian-inspired cocktails mixed with Bombay Sapphire gin in a micro-bar designed by Marté Guixé, surrounded by Achille Castiglioni’s designs and work space.

One of the upshots of the absorbing but gruelling traipse around the fringe events of Milan’s Salone del Mobile is the chance to avoid the red tape and make an instant visit to temples of the history of design and architecture — what better excuse to attend an evening organised by Bombay Sapphire at the Studio Museum Achille Castiglioni in Piazza Castello, which continues to share its spaces and stories with special projects such as Evenings of Imagination, following a five-year partnership (2006-2011) with the city’s Triennale that has attracted more than 28,000 visitors.

 

During this year’s furniture fair, two Evenings of Imagination were organised by the gin-maker known by its sapphire-blue bottle — which in times past has developed collaborations with designers such as Tom Dixon, Ron Arad, Marcel Wanders, Patricia Urquiola and Moritz Waldemeyer — centred on its new gin, Bombay Sapphire East, inspired by the flavours of the Asian East, and a "surprise bar" project by Catalan designer Martí Guixé and Finnish chef Antto Melasniemi.

Guixé_Catiglioni
The flexible bar designed by Marté Guixé for two evenings at the Achille Castiglioni Museum

The inspiration came to Melasniemi, who asked Guixé to design a temporary or permanent bar that could easily be transported and set up in different locations and at a broad spectrum of events.

 

So, we climbed the steps to the Castiglioni Museum — admittedly after a first stop at a bar set up in the courtyard — and encountered a large wooden box, 180 x 73 x 118 cm, fitted with lights and shelves and equipped as an extremely practical micro-bar, thought up by a designer known for his ability to push the paradigms and boundaries of creativity and food design. The more fortunate, like us, were even served by the two creatives, before being given a tour of the museum by eager students of Milan’s Polytechnic.

Guixé e Melasniemi
Martí Guixé and Finnish chef Antto Melasniemi prepare a cocktail with the new Bombay Sapphire East

11 — 12 April 2013

Bombay Sapphire: Evenings of Imagination

Studio Museo Achille Castiglioni

Piazza Castello 27, Milan

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