In Lucerne, in the heart of the city, one of the oldest bridges in Europe, the Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrücke), stands out over the river Reuss. With its rich paintings and famous wooden roofing, it has become the symbol not only of the city but of the whole of Switzerland.
And it is just a few steps from the bridge that Vietti, the quasi-institutional Italian and Swiss reference point for Luxury Fashion Multibrand Retail, has opened a new store with its seven windows overlooking the central Kapellplatz and the colourful and cheerful Fritschibrunnen fountain erected in 1918.
The design and realisation of this exclusive boutique was entrusted to the expert hands of the Cardinali & Gazzabin Architecture Studio, which conceived a visually striking and very glamorous space for Vietti. For this project too, the Cardinali & Gazzabin studio availed itself of the expertise, technical skills and product quality of Status Contract, a leading luxury contract furniture company.
The furnishings seem to reflect the colours and sensations that the lake, and the city, offer to visitors thanks to the careful choice of materials and finishes in almost dreamlike colours, lake green, grey, white, which combine with each other on the elegant and essential surfaces made of steel, mirror, glass, velvet and Corian.
The powerful impression is that the entire design of the Vietti boutique lives in intimate harmony with its surroundings, from the square to the river, from the river to the lake, and that it echoes their colours and suggestions. Even the white of the Corian was chosen and designed for the winter months, to match the snowy mantle that often covers the streets and roofs of the city of Lucerne.
Intrigued by this continuous visual and sensorial reference to the context of the city of Lucerne and its evocative colours, we wanted to delve into the subject with Simona Arosio of Status Contract.
Q – We would like to understand what Status Contract’s contribution was in the creative process that led from the architects’ design to the realisation of the Vietti boutique. Basically, we’d like to know what steps led from imagining to realizing.
A – The creative process, in which Status Contract played a leading role, focused first and foremost on the search for materials, respecting the requirements of the project and the concept developed by the architects. Our research was guided above all by the study of innovative materials, such as the fabric backdrops with internal lighting that run the full height of the shop and offer a harmonious space between lights and products in the men’s area, making the environment very welcoming.
Q – How much did the context, understood as urban and natural environment, count in the choice of materials, finishes and colours? Was it easy/difficult to find the technical solutions?
A- The search for materials must always take into account both the location and the continuous passage of customers that the boutique envisages. The materials must be durable, they must last for a long time and they must also be certified according to the requirements of the local regulations.
Specifically, Lucerne is a city where the winter is very harsh and where it snows often, so the flooring and the construction structure of the entrance door had to necessarily take into account the cold season and the presence of snow during much of the winter period.
In the initial study, which preceded the realisation and technical designation, Status Contract met the requirements of the Vietti family, who wanted materials in their new shop that were easy to maintain and not subject to rapid wear.
Status Contract therefore searched for – and found – fabrics and materials that had not only the specific concept characteristics required by the architects, but also a technical specification suitable for the use they would have in the boutique, proceeding in a work (demanding, of course, but also very gratifying) of linking and researching between the initial design and the very concrete needs of the client.
