Montalba Architects, Inc.

Located in Beijing and Shanghai, the first flagship stores for Italian designer Gabriele Colangelo offer an art gallery inspired experience, and a place to view his latest collections in a space that reflects the intimacy of a home. The design provides a direct customer experience by illuminating the store with a unique ring suspended in the middle of the space that further draws users toward the displayed collection. The flexibility of the ring opposes the clear protocol assigned to the rest of the store, where there is an accurate position for each element. A mineral curtain made by CNC technique combined with Douglas fir wood was used to generate the furniture elements, which were limited so as to not overpower the apparel. The conceptual design creates a minimalist, yet intimate experience that offers an open invitation to interact with the refreshing collection.