Material contamination: how showrooms are changing. Two examples in Milan

Dordoni Architetti and Ferruccio Laviani use materials to define spaces and to dialogue with the products of two different brands.

The evolution of showrooms is transforming these spaces from places intended for sale into meeting points for professionals, designers and customers, specialists or not, where you can calmly discuss the properties of the products on sale, experience the spirit of the brand and discover the projects in suggestive and unusual contexts.

The use of materials becomes an instrument of storytelling and the focus of the project for two new showrooms in Milan: one designed by Ferruccio Laviani for Foscarini and the other created by Dordoni Architetti for the clothing brand Aspesi. 

Laviani reorganises the space of the Corso Monforte showroom “making the volumes as ample and versatile as possible, while the materials – kept with their natural finish – leave the products free to express themselves, and to be understood,” says the designer.

Concrete preserves the signs of the formwork, creating elegant patterns that enhance the bright colours and light of the lamps. “The display space has been designed for use as a zone of sale and reception, but also as a setting for artistic installations and product presentations”.

A rich and skilful mix of materials - PVC, fiberglass, plexiglass, wood, iron, cement, plaster and stone - characterises Dordoni Architetti’s shop in via San Pietro all'Orto, where neutral colours and rough materiality are alterned with coloured, smooth and brilliant elements. “The large central skylight reveals the architecture of the surrounding buildings and allows the sun to filter through, combining with the interior lights for the most natural effect possible,” says the designer, who sees the showroom as an agora, a place to creates connections between inside and outside, nature and the city.

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