A Polish woman has designed the ALESSI shop. It is a graduation project

As part of the ‘Into Pureness’ project, Monika Stankiewicz designed the ALESSI shop in Milan. She prepared her concept during her master’s degree in interior design at the Marangoni Institute in the same city

Monika Stankiewicz prepared her project in collaboration with designer Magnus Gustafsson and the ALESSI brand. The aim was to modernise and improve the ALESSI flagship shop, which is located at 14 A. Manzoni Street in Milan. This is an attractive location in the city centre

Analysing the brand’s products and visual identity, the student found three main features that she felt best represented the spirit of the brand. They are playful, elegant and timeless. She named her project Into Pureness and seeks to explore what is purest, simplest and most refined

The main inspiration for this concept is biophilia, or oneness with nature, which she conveyed through the use of organic shapes and textures. Another inspiration for this concept is ALESSI’s non-schematic shapes. – ‘ I wanted to transfer some of the curves and folds that we can see in the brand’s products into the design,’ explains Monika Stankiewicz

The design is distinguished by a limited colour palette. The designer chose to work with natural colours, shades of grey and earthy colours, giving the space a calm and soft look. In terms of materials, she divided them into two groups. One consists of shiny and reflective materials, where she mixed different types of metals and mirrors, and another consists of opaque materials with a more natural look and textures reminiscent of nature

I decided to divide the shop into 4 main areas, the first at the front will be a display space, ready for events or product launches. The middle of the shop will be 100% dedicated to the display of various products while at the end of the shop I decided to locate the checkout and coffee area. Finally, the adjoining room would be an immersion room where, thanks to light and projection, the customer could enjoy total immersion in the world of ALESSI,” adds the designer

The interior is distinguished by arches, false walls and built-in shelves. All are united by organic shapes. Also impressive is the ceiling, which is once undulating and finished in stainless steel with a strip of lights, then moves on to a luminous pendant lamp in the centre of the shop and ends in the immersion room, where fabric strips hang from it

A clever solution was used by the designer in terms of product display. She chose four main families, which were Coffee Collection, Cucina & Tavolo, Home Collection and Wine & Bar. She placed the Coffee Collection in the back of the shop, where a café will be set up. She located the Wine & Bar family in the display space and divided the central part of the shop into two sections. The central space is dedicated to products from the Cucina & Tavolo range. The HOME collection was placed in the space closest to the door

I treated the architecture as a background for the exhibition. For this reason, I proposed an interior that is bright and delicate, interesting and unusual, but at the same time calm and coherent, one that will follow the balance with ALESSI products,” adds the designer

The way to emphasise the display and create an atmosphere in the interior was to combine different types of lighting. She distinguished primarily between functional lighting – accentuating displays and passageways – but also decorative lighting. The use of illuminated, wavy ceilings and unusual pendant lamps add delicate light to the interior, building up its unique, intimate atmosphere

source: Monika Stankiewicz

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