Commercial Building Renovation,
Via Monte Napoleone, Milano

Set in the center of Milan in the prestigious via Montenapoleone, the new “store” has the personality and atmosphere of an apartment building with a space that feels homey, intimate, and personal. For the 50th anniversary of the Valentino brand, Chipperfield took the redesign of the flagship store as a chance to join architecturally memory and invention. The sales space is presented like an apartment with rooms, rather than the showrooms in which we are accustomed to seeing such pieces. The walls’ finishes vary between glass sandblasted on both sides to play with contrasting reflections, and vertical surfaces made with a vibrant “curtain effect”, created through the rhythmic sequence of panels with extruded plaster waves.