Almini Shoe Store Extension
The expansion of the Almini boutique in via Bagutta in Milan broadens and extends the spatial, formal and material choices of the small adjacent flagship store - also designed by CZA - in line with the ever greater articulation of the product and image of the brand.
The expansion of the Almini boutique in via Bagutta in Milan broadens and extends the spatial, formal and material choices of the small adjacent flagship store – also designed by CZA – in line with the ever greater articulation of the product and image of the brand. The role of an exhibition and sales space like this is similar to that of the sound box of a musical instrument capable of giving fullness and generating resonances around the melody produced by the strings. The interior architecture of the store produces an atmosphere that is both precious and discreet around shoes and leather goods with perfect and inimitable workmanship. The background does not need to replace the object; instead he wants to constitute an “analogue” capable of arousing emotions and generating a system of connotations appropriate to his character and style. The new entrance on via Bagutta takes the form of a round arch inscribed in the geometry of the existing portal; if its profile resonates with the motifs of the historic architecture of the neighbourhood, the material and chromatic consistency of oxidized brass reinterprets it in a contemporary key. Its sharp profile allows a complete view of the stone of the neoclassical archivolt, and its splay – which deforms on the left to generate a single window flush with the street – frames the glass door at the entrance to the shop. The theme of the brass frame with an oval-shaped profile distinguishes not only the windows of the existing windows but also the exhibitors of the interiors, and enters into ideal continuity with the best examples of post-World War II shop architecture, one of which is the splendid Manzoni gallery. and its large mirrors with rounded corners. The details of the interior furnishings – the display units projecting from the background in capitonné cloth with gold buttons, the trays projecting from the grooved oak cabinet and supported by slender metal supports, the stucco vault and the large mirror decorated with the Almini braid motif – want be an explicit homage to the great season of post-World War II Milanese architecture and design, whose formal refinement and attention to detail is now envied by the whole world, as is the inimitable class of Almini shoes and accessories, the result of a long dialogue between innovative design, attention to the material and craftsmanship. In a world increasingly capable of copying existing motifs, the Almini flagship store wants to demonstrate the vitality of an “Italian design” proud of its identity and at the same time open to a global reality.
Design Team
Cino Zucchi,
Lorenza Crotti (Project Leader)
Lucrezia Fontanelli, Michele Piolini
Design Team
Cino Zucchi,
Lorenza Crotti (Project Leader)
Lucrezia Fontanelli, Michele Piolini
