Snarkitecture, have created yet another designer spectacle, this time for Milanese fashion house, Valextra’s 80th anniversary.
Yep, quirky New-Yorkers Snarkitecture have created yet another designer spectacle, this time for Milanese fashion house Valextra, and surprise-surprise, it’s white.
Not unlike avoiding the whole ‘repeat outfit’ thing, its common practice for most designers to avoid repeating styles and aesthetics. But I guess Snarkitecture have never really been ones for tradition, have they?
In celebration of Valextra’s 80th anniversary, Snarkitecture have sculpted a new pop-up project inside its retail store on Milan’s via Manzoni. Though it certainly follows the same monochromatic hallmark of their impressive portfolio, the Valextra pop-up still embodies a unique personality all its own. It’s a billowing all-white cloud-like canopy that drapes from the ceiling, creating an ephemeral atmosphere and visual impact upon entering.
“Our approach considered the forms and palette of the Valextra collection,” explains Snarkitecture’s Daniel Arsham and Alex Mustonen. “We felt that a monochromatic space would provide a striking, but complementary, setting for the Valextra pieces. Several key elements of the design were inspired by visits to Milan. We were interested in the juxtaposition of hard, architectural surfaces with soft textures, as well as the play between precision (the grid-like scaffold) and looseness (the irregular scrim fabric).”
Snarkitecture’s philosophy continues to disrupt and reset the relationship between art and architecture in their most recent work, with the concept derived from the simple structural order of common scaffolding systems — often overlooked as temporary frameworks rather than a complex module. This led to Snarkitecture dividing the floorplan into three main bays — each with its own internal support system — from which a white, billowing mesh is suspended. The all-white interior is wrapped and enveloped in layers of tactile fabric, blurring the boundaries between the walls and ceiling.
In this all-white tactile environment, luxurious materials are treated with industrial rigor. End walls are unconventionally upholstered with thick fury white carpet or quilted fabric, while center units are encased in fluted foam. The floor is clad in fiberglass tiles that reproduce a high definition stone print. As Valextra’s latest men’s collection circles around the ‘sophisticated winter traveler’, Snarkitecture’s colorless scene is a fitting backdrop to highlight the enduring beauty and graphic purity of the brand’s new items.
Even though the next Snarkitecture project will presumably be some form of white spectacle, it’s impossible to predict what they will do next. And that is true genius; predictably unpredictable.
INDESIGN is on instagram
Follow @indesignlive
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
Natural stone shapes the interiors of Billyard Avenue, a luxury apartment development in Sydney’s Elizabeth Bay designed by architecture and design practice SJB. Here, a curated selection of stone from Anterior XL sets the backdrop for the project’s material language.
In the last instalment of our three-part performance seating series, Alex Bain from Architectus explains why sitting well shouldn’t feel like sitting at all and explores an unexpected success metric of the hybrid workplace: the grounding power of emotional support.
Blending versatile cooking with smart performance, Bosch AccentLine appliances bring a quieter sense of order and simplicity to the modern kitchen.
Stepping into Intuit’s Sydney workplace certainly doesn’t feel like walking into an office. Why? In this film, we discover that, when joy takes precedence as a design driver, even a high-performing commercial CBD headquarters can feel like an intuitive wonderland that invites employees to choose their own adventure.
Milan Design Week means more than lounging in luxury and the latest in bathroom beauty. We pull out a handful of exciting commercial furniture highlights.
From sculptural basins and wellness-led bathrooms to kitchens and professional-grade appliances, these Milan Design Week releases reframed the home’s most functional spaces as places of ritual and care.
From indoor-outdoor furniture systems and archival reissues to experimental lighting, circular materials and collectible surfaces, these launches captured Milan Design Week’s broader conversation around comfort, craft, longevity and atmosphere.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
Salone del Mobile and the wider Milan Design Week again provided plenty of food for thought this year. Here, we reflect on some design ‘trends’ as well as taking a more critical view of the annual gathering.
As part of our ongoing series of intimate editorial dinners with Signature Appliances, we recently gathered a group of architects, designers and industry voices in Sydney for a private conversation around one of design’s most persistent questions: can everyone have access to great design and beautiful spaces?