Gosplan was influenced by the doorways of ancient Italian palaces when designing the perforated gate that marks the entrance to the store, which is located in the city's historic centre.

"The door is a free interpretation of doors of ancient Genoa palaces," explains the designer. "The small holes are a metaphor for the large ancient nails, while the large hole in the centre replaces the door knocker."

Called Il Salotto, which means "Living Room" in Italian, the boutique has vaulted ceilings and large windows with a bright blue linoleum floor that contrasts with the rough plastered walls.

Clothes, bags and shoes hang from white-painted reinforcing rods, which have been bent into angular formations that protrude from the walls and floors.

Coat hangers and mirror frames are also constructed from the bent rods, along with a cage-like chandelier that descends from the ceiling and a large circular rail from which curtains hang to enclose dressing rooms.

Brightly coloured cables are strung around the shop with bare lightbulbs dangling loosely from the ceiling.

The shop counter is made from coloured MDF and features a tiled recess used to display jewellery.

The same dove-grey coloured tiles are used to create a unifying band around the walls of the boutique.

The shop is owned by Sara Busiri Vici and Matteo Brizio who also use the space to host small art exhibitions.

Photography is by Anna Positano.

Other shops we've recently featured on Dezeen include a boutique with an upside-down living room on the ceiling and a fashion boutique with glass silhouettes of male and female figures that reach out to each other across a tiled floor.

See all our stories about shop design »

The post Il Salotto boutique
by Gosplan appeared first on Dezeen.

The little building previously functioned as a garage for a weekend retreat in the Raethian Alps, but act_romegialli was asked to convert it into a space where the owner can keep gardening tools, prepare meals and entertain guests.

Retaining the rustic stone walls and columns of the old garage, the architects installed a galvanised metal framework with a skeletal pitched roof, then added glazed panels to infill openings on each of the walls.

Steel wires strung up around the structure help a selection of deciduous plants to climb over the facade, plus a mixture of annual and perennial shrubs are planted around its base, providing a constant blanket of exterior greenery.

The interior of the building is divided into two rooms, both with weather-beaten larch floors and exposed concrete ceilings. The kitchen is constructed from galvanised steel and features a sink with metal pipes for taps.

Other garden pavilions to feature on Dezeen include a wooden folly that cantilevers across a lake and a pavilion with the same structural form as a leaf. See more pavilions on Dezeen.

Photography is by Marcello Mariana.

Read on for a project description from the architects:

"Green Box" | act_romegialli

The "green box" project rises as the renovation of a small disused garage, accessory to a weekend house situated on the slopes of the Raethian Alps. A structure realised with lightweight metal galvanised profiles and steel wires wraps the existent volume and transforms it into a tridimensional support for the climbing vegetation.

It is composed mainly by deciduous vegetation: Lonicera periclymenum and Polygonum baldshuanicum for the main texture on which climb up the secondary texture of Humulus lupulus and Clematis tangutica. On the basement there are groups of herbaceous perennials (Centranthus ruber, Gaura Lindheimeri, Geranium sanguineum, Rudbekia triloba) alternate with annual ones (Cosmos bipinnatus, Tagetes tenuifolia, Tropaeolum majus, Zinnia tenuifolia) and bulbous to ensure a light but continuous flowering.

Inside the pavilion is organised a room for the gardening tools, great passion of the owner, an area for cooking and a space for conviviality. Materials are left rough and simple; galvanised steel for the kitchen, larch planks for flooring and big sliding doors, windows in unpainted galvanised steel, simple pipes for the water supply.

A small green shelter in the vegetation, privileged observation point of the changing of the seasons of the surrounding park. Park that is left wild in some areas and in other transformed into garden of flowers or simple green space, punctuated only by beautiful nude rocks scattered in the property.

Location: Cerido SO – Italy
Typology: pavilion for gardening and conviviality
Design: act_romegialli - Gianmatteo Romegialli, Angela Maria Romegialli, Erika Gaggia
Landscape: Gheo Clavarino
Client: Private

The post Green Box by
act_romegialli appeared first on Dezeen.

Completed at the end of 2012, the 50,000-square-metre Antinori Winery was conceived as an invisible building whose body merges with the folds of the hillside. The tiered roof is entirely covered with farmland and a pair of sliced openings infilled with glass are all that reveal the presence of the structure.

"The physical and intellectual construction of the winery pivots on the profound and deep-rooted ties with the land, a relationship which is so intense and suffered as to make the architectural image conceal itself and blend into it," says Archea Associati.

The interior of the winery is divided into two main storeys. The lowest levels are dedicated to the storage and production of wine, while the upper level contains visitor facilities that include a museum, a library, an auditorium and areas for wine tasting and shopping.

Circular openings pierce the roof and floors to bring light into the depths of the building. One void contains a spiralling staircase, which connects an upper-level terrace with the vaults below.

These double-height cellars are arranged in three rows and are lined with terracotta on every side. The architects describe the rooms as "the secluded heart of the winery [that] with its darkness and the rhythmic sequence of the terracotta vaults, [conveys] the sacral dimension of a space which is hidden."

The building uses the earth as a natural insulator to maintain a constant indoor climate and keep the wine cool during the warmer summer months.

Other wineries completed in recent years include a partially submerged sandstone winery in Spain and the rusted-steel Chateau Barde-Haut in France. See more wineries on Dezeen.

Here's a project description from Archea Associati:

Antinori Winery
San Casciano Val di Pesa, Italia, 2004-2012

The site is surrounded by the unique hills of Chianti, covered with vineyards, half-way between Florence and Siena. A cultured and illuminated customer has made it possible to pursue, through architecture, the enhancement of the landscape and the surroundings as expression of the cultural and social valence of the place where wine is produced.

The functional aspects have therefore become an essential part of a design itinerary which centres on the geomorphological experimentation of a building understood as the most authentic expression of a desired symbiosis and merger between anthropic culture, the work of man, his work environment and the natural environment.

The physical and intellectual construction of the winery pivots on the profound and deep-rooted ties with the land, a relationship which is so intense and suffered (also in terms of economic investment) as to make the architectural image conceal itself and blend into it.

The purpose of the project has therefore been to merge the building and the rural landscape; the industrial complex appears to be a part of the latter thanks to the roof, which has been turned into a plot of farmland cultivated with vines, interrupted, along the contour lines, by two horizontal cuts which let light into the interior and provide those inside the building with a view of the landscape through the imaginary construction of a diorama. The facade, to use an expression typical of buildings, therefore extends horizontally along the natural slope, paced by the rows of vines which, along with the earth, form its "roof cover".

The openings or cuts discreetly reveal the underground interior: the office areas, organized like a belvedere above the barricade, and the areas where the wine is produced are arranged along the lower, and the bottling and storage areas along the upper.

The secluded heart of the winery, where the wine matures in barrels, conveys, with its darkness and the rhythmic sequence of the terracotta vaults, the sacral dimension of a space which is hidden, not because of any desire to keep it out of sight but to guarantee the ideal thermo-hygrometric conditions for the slow maturing of the product.

A reading of the architectural section of the building reveals that the altimetrical arrangement follows both the production process of the grapes which descend (as if by gravity) – from the point of arrival, to the fermentation tanks to the underground barrel vault – and that of the visitors who on the contrary ascend from the parking area to the winery and the vineyards, through the production and display areas with the press, the area where vinsanto is aged, to finally reach the restaurant and the floor hosting the auditorium, the museum, the library, the wine tasting areas and the sales outlet.

The offices, the administrative areas and executive offices, located on the upper level, are paced by a sequence of internal court illuminated by circular holes scattered across the vineyard-roof. This system also serves to provide light for the guesthouse and the caretaker's dwelling.

The materials and technologies evoke the local tradition with simplicity, coherently expressing the theme of studied naturalness, both in the use of terracotta and in the advisability of using the energy produced naturally by the earth to cool and insulate the winery, creating the ideal climatic conditions for the production of wine.

Location: Bargino, San Casciano Val di Pesa, Firenze
Programme: Winery, offices, museum, auditorium, restaurant, viability, manoeuvring and green areas, depuration
Cost: €85.052.831 (excluding winemaking plants and landscaping)

Beginning of design: 2004
Opening of building site: 2007
Completion date 25 October: 2012

Client: Marchesi Antinori srl
Architectral Design: Archea Associati (Laura Andreini, Marco Casamonti, Silvia Fabi, Giovanni Polazzi)
Artistic supervision: Marco Casamonti, Francesco Giordani
Engineering: HYDEA
Bulding site supervisor: Paolo Giustiniani
Structural design: AEI Progetti
Design of plants: M&E Management & Engineering
Oenological plants: Emex Engineering Marchesi Antinori
General contractor: Inso

The post Antinori Winery by
Archea Associati appeared first on Dezeen.

News: Italian architects Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas have won a competition to transform the central railway area of Bari, a city in southern Italy, with a proposal to build a three-kilometre-long elevated park over the track.

The winning design, a collaboration between Fuksas and architect Jordi Henrich I Monràs, stretches over an area of 78 hectares and is centred around a large park that will pass over the railway and offer promenade views over the city and the sea.

The project will also provide Bari with a new cultural centre spread across the former Rossani barracks. Existing buildings will be restored and turned into a public library, an exhibition space, municipal offices and workshops for artists, actors and academics.

A new elliptical building with a wood facade will house a 1000-capacity auditorium adaptable to concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and exhibitions, while underground parking will be provided on the northern edge of the park near the railway station.

In the south-west corner of the park, alongside Bari's existing Auditorium Nino Rota, the architects propose to enlarge the city's music conservatory with a new auditorium and teaching rooms as well as an area for outdoor concerts.

Last month the Fuksas duo won a competition for the Moscow Polytechnic Museum and Educational Centre with a design consisting of four copper-clad elements, while in January they completed a new building for the National Archives of France – see all architecture by Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas.

In 2011, a two-and-a-half mile-long elevated park called The High Line opened on abandoned railway along 22 blocks of downtown Manhattan, while last year Danish architects BIG completed a project to place a 750-metre-long carpet of grass and rubber through Copenhagen – see all parks and gardens.

Here's some more information from the architects:

International competition for the "Baricentrale railway area", Italy, won by Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas + Jordi Henrich I Monràs

Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas along with Jordi Henrich I Monràs have won the international competition for the design of the railway area "Baricentrale".

The international competition launched by the Municipality of Bari, aimed to promote the transformation of the city, using the reorganisation of the railway area which has long acted as a rift that cuts through the city, as the starting point for its transformation. The site of the project stretches over an area of 78 hectares which is divided into 7 segments.

The decision of the jury in choosing the winning design team came about on the basis of the following main reasons: the ability to fully respond with consistency and quality to the primal need of the city, that of reconnecting the two “sides” of the railway area which have been split apart for so long; the integration of buildings situated on the two sides, through the realisation of a large elevated park; the introduction of an increase of the current building density, balanced and well distributed between the different compartments; the proposal having a high level of environmental sustainability as its main characteristic.

The project signed by Studio Fuksas desires to solve the issue of the fracture of the city of Bari in a radical way through the design of a large city park with promenade views of the city and the sea, which acts as the connective tissue of the entire project. Without burying the rail track, the project aims at the rebirth of a strongly degraded area and pass through a large elevated park, 3 km long with an east-west bike path. A big lung which will double the amount of green for inhabitants, from the current 2.7 m to 5.1 m ab / ab.

The sub-sector of the barrack Rossani, composed of 5 buildings has been assigned an important role. It will become the cultural centre of the city of Bari with spaces for social gatherings in a green area. Existing buildings will be restored without altering the architectural shape. Their function will be related to culture and arts. The building positioned at the center of the park (1400 square meters) will host the municipal offices. The building D will host workshops for artists and fellows of the Academy of Fine Arts in Bari; the building E (2930 sqm) will become the city's public library with specialized sections devoted to the visual arts, theater, music and architecture, the building F (2,184 sqm) is transformed into a huge exhibition space for temporary exhibitions and will support the educational activities of the Academy of Fine Arts. The building H (2890 square meters) will host residencies for artists, actors, contract professors, scholars and students of the academy linked to European programs of cultural exchange. The ground floor will also house a café open to the public and immersed in the park. It will include the construction of an underground parking with 800 seats, located in the northern edge of the Park Rossani near the new Central Station.

At the centre of the regular structure of the barrack will arise the auditorium / performance centre with a capacity of about 1,000 seats. The architectural shape of the elliptical performance center generates a volume from soft geometries that deliberately contrasts with the rigidity of existing buildings. A multi-purpose building that can accommodate a variety of events and activities such as concerts, theater, conferences, exhibitions and film screenings. Common areas, the cafeteria and the foyer are fully glazed in order to create a relationship of continuity between inside and outside. The wood will be the outer skin of the structure of the facade of the building in order to be in harmony with the park and vegetation.

The city of music will be built at the south-west of the park. The function is already defined by the presence of the Auditorium Nino Rota. The existing structure also plays a supporting role at the Conservatory Niccolo Piccinni. The project proposes to shape a genuine city of music providing for the enlargement of about 2000 square meters of the conservatory with a new building that will house a 400-seat auditorium and music school. Furthermore it is also planned to build an area for outdoor concerts with 400 seats. The park of music because of the new structure planned by the master plan is easily accessible from the city centre.

The post Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas to redesign
central railway area of Bari, Italy appeared first on Dezeen.

Nendo used architectural elements observed while exploring Milan on foot as inspiration, explaining that the studio was "inspired by the unexpected encounters with shop windows, courtyard gardens and public squares that come from wandering Milan's back streets."

They divided the space with 17 window frames covered with a film that's opaque when viewed from an angle but transparent when seen straight-on. "This allows products to suddenly appear in front of shoppers' eyes as they move through the space and creates a constantly changing spatial experience, much like the constant but unpredictable small surprises of Milan itself," say the designers.

Mobile rails and shelving units are made of white metal with stands that look like they're peeling away. Pendant lights were inspired by those seen hanging from wires between buildings above the streets in Milan and concessions are tucked into archways referencing Milanese architecture.

Womenswear is located on the fourth floor of La Rinascente, the city's best-known department store, which is situated alongside the Duomo cathedral. The department reopened in September but these images had not been published until now, in time for the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in the city next week. See all our previews of design at Milan 2013 here.

Other stories about designs by Nendo include tables coloured in with crayons and chairs with tall backs for extra privacy. See all our stories about designs by Nendo »

Photos are by Daici Ano.

The post La Rinascente womenswear department
by Nendo appeared first on Dezeen.