Simplicity and luminosity: the new Armani shop which opened 10 January in via de’ Tornabuoni 48 in Florence is the newest creation to arise from one of the Milan’s leading fashion designers and architect Claudio Silvestrin – it also represents the latest of a series of profitable collaborations which in recent years have seen increasingly close interaction between the worlds of fashion, art and architecture.

The minimalism of the Italian architect – who owes his visual education to Milanese graphic designer A.G.Fronzoni and now lives and works in London where he studied at the Architectural Association – relates to the historical building next to Palazzo Strozzi in a way which is both discreet and respectful. On two levels with 450 square metres of floor space three materials dominate: the light coloured St Maximin stone, the dark ebony of the furniture and the bronze colour of the oxidised brass used for the fittings, handles and clothes rails.

The Florence shop is Claudio Silvestrin’s most recent project: following the Paris showroom at Place Vendôme (October 1999) and shops in Tokyo, San Paolo, Düsseldorf, Seoul and Moscow, all opened in 2001.

https://www.claudiosilvestrin.com