Furla is an Italian luxury leather-goods brand founded in Bologna in 1927. Following a desire to overhaul their key stores worldwide, Furla appointed the practice to develop a new store concept. The first store to feature the concept opened in September 2020 in the refurbished and enlarged flagship store on the Piazza del Duomo in Milan.
The two-storey flagship store consists of a series of distinct rooms, some featuring historic mouldings and frescos, that are connected by arched doorways with a sculptural staircase connecting the two floors. The recurring use of arches celebrates the brand’s Bolognan heritage – a city famous for its arched porticoes – and references the arches of the Furla Foundation’s palazzo as well as their own logo.
The store concept proposes a strong material architecture with different natural clays mixed and applied to the walls to give intense earthy colours to the main spaces. This rough plaster creates a tactile contrast with the smooth, continuous surface of the traditional Italian Pastellone floor.
Staggered and repeated metal arches follow the perimeters of the rooms and generate scenographic furnishings that reference the interiors of Carlo Scarpa. The lightness of the perimeter displays is counterbalanced by a series of sculptural central display elements and colourful marble tables that offer a contemporary interpretation of Angelo Mangiarotti’s designs.
Dates:2019–20
Gross floor area:240m2
Client:Furla SpA
Architect:David Chipperfield Architects Milan
Photography:Alberto Parise