Not just furniture and design displays: online and offline merge in an Architect-friendly 2.0 space
The lights are on in the Bari Archiproducts Shop window displays. The shutters are wide open, the sign is on and the space is finally ready to welcome Architects and Designers in a setting that is typical of a showroom, but truly digital at heart.https://www.youtube.com/embed/jFCkRe_2xMw‘This is our idea of a showroom’, says Enzo Maiorano, Co-Founder and Art Director of Archiproducts. ‘We wanted to create a true planning, buying and furnishing experience, bringing online and offline functionality into a space that is more than just a shop. We wanted it to be a place for dialogue, connections, and meetings among professionals’. Stepping into Archiproducts Shop, the first impression is of a versatile and multifunctional space. Tablets and qr codes immediately make you feel like the line between the physical and digital worlds is a very elastic one. So much so that they seem to meet precisely in this space, which is designed like a home: the Archiproducts ‘showroom home’ in the city center, on Corso Vittorio Emanuele, in the heart of the shopping district.
‘It was like opening a big box of toys’, Agustina Prado Vecchi, the Italo-Argentinian designer of the Archiproducts team, recalls. ‘Like taking them out and putting them all back together in a harmonious way that was also in line with the Archiproducts identity. The difficult part was drawing out the network’s personality, given that the latter was born on the web. It’s not all that simple to transfer a story like the Archiproducts one into a physical space. It really was a challenge. But we did it, because this showroom is about us, it tells our story in every detail’. The interiors have that subtle elegance that doesn’t need broadcasting. It’s a space that transmits positive vibes, thanks also to the choice of colors. ‘Colors which are good for us’, Agustina Prado Vecchi explains, ‘colors which feel like home’.
A 600sqm display on two stories – a ground floor facing the Corso, and a basement – welcomes a selection of 35 brands in an itinerary full of inspiration and décor solutions which plays out in different sets. From the collections of Poltrona Frau, Baxter, Zanotta, De Padova, Gervasoni and GLAS Italia to the outdoors collection by Paola Lenti and the kitchen and bathroom proposals by Boffi. Also featured are the geometry and carpets by CC-Tapis, linen and cashmere fabrics by Society Limonta, ceramic coverings by Mutina, and wallpapers by Texturae. The icing on the cake is given by NIDI’s kids proposals, Effegibi‘s wellness interiors, outdoor offerings by GAN, vases by Hobby Flower, and seating by THONET. The sets are spread out in alternating open and closed spaces, lit up by Flos, Artemide, Vibia and FontanaArte. The Bari Archiproducts Shop communicates with the visitor through smartphones and devices made available throughout the shop. The qr codes placed next to each product allow access to technical specifications, available configurations and information about the Brand and Designer. The undeniable added value comes through the Archiproducts team: architects can count on the assistance available through every step of the project, with professional consultations, personalized quotations, and in-store and online purchasing guidance for over 600 brands available on shop.archiproducts.com.
The official inauguration is on December 6, the day the entire city celebrates San Nicola dei baresi – ‘Saint Nicholas of the people of Bari’. Bari is lit up with the torches of the traditional procession which at the break of dawn starts its steady walk through the Carassi and Murattiano neighborhoods, all the way to the majestic Basilica of St Nicholas; it is also lit up with the lights of the Christmas tree in Piazza del Ferrarese, and with the lights of the Teatro Margherita, which returns to grace the city with its beauty and cultural offering after 38 years of closure. The lights of the Bari Archiproducts Shop in Corso Vittorio Emanuele flick on in unison with this sea of festive brilliance. The shop’s location marks the dividing line between the traditional old town, and the modern ‘shopping district’ of the city. It is the ideal positioning where rushing innovation meets a ‘slow-made’ dimension, suspended in a past when things were made well, taking all the time required.
