design42day

Cappellini is delighted to announce the opening of a newly designed showroom in Milan. While the address is the same, Via Santa Cecilia 4, the space, after nearly two months under the restructuring art direction of Giulio Cappellini, is completely new. This follows on from the launch, less than a year previous, of the Cappellini’s Paris flagship store in St Germain.

Continuing the theme that each flagship store has a signature monochromatic interior – blue in Los Angeles, red in New York and purple in Paris – the predominant colour of the new store in Milan is yellow. Yellow is a colour closely associated with the city, from the famous trams to the old taxis, from saffron risotto to the façade of the buildings. In addition, it is a tone that has always been part of the Cappellini colour palette. The new interiors have been redesigned to respond more closely to the taste of today’s architects and designers.

The opening exhibition, “Homage to Shiro”, is dedicated and pays homage to the celebrated Japanese architect Shiro Kuramata, who worked closely with Giulio Cappellini. The display includes iconic products designed by Shiro Kuramata that are still part of the Cappellini catalogue (such as Progetti Compiuti, Revolving Cabinet and Homage to Mondrian), as well as reproductions of original drawings, rare prototypes, and a new edition of Dinah, a product edited in few pieces in the1980s that went out of production and is now highly sought after in international contemporary design auctions.

True to the spirit of the company, Cappellini hits Milan with a touch of magic and innovation, making this unique space a destination that is likely to become a new city attraction in itself.

www.cappellini.it

Giulio Cappellini on Shiro Kuramata:

“What attracted me to Shiro Kuramata’s work was the poetry, irony and lightness found in his projects. These projects were never trivial but always innovative and interesting. Shiro taught me that long silences were often better than many words.

Shiro was an exceptional person; introverted and highly educated. A man who assessed people, who wanted to be judged on his personality alone. He was great because as a designer he created beautiful and useful objects, but also tried with each project to make people dream.

At the time of the launch of Shiro Kuramata’s products it was a huge cultural leap for Cappellini, the transition between being a furniture manufacturer to becoming a reference point in the evolution of contemporary design worldwide. It is a story that continues today. We also used to discuss his ideas about an ‘ideal city’ that he would design to create a better life for people.”