Page 85 - AIT0919_E-Paper

Entwurf • Design Marcante Testa Architetti, IT-Turin
„Ich will, dass meine Kunden Imarika
als einen Ort wahrnehmen, an dem sie sich wohl-
fühlen, wo sie ihren Alltag hinter sich lassen und
Spaß haben können. Bei uns stehen die Menschen
im Mittelpunkt, nicht die Klamotten.“
Benedetta Bevilacqua, Imarika-Gründerin
Grundriss • Floor plan
Bauherr • Client Benedetta Bevilacqua
Standort • Location Via Giovanni Morelli 1, Mailand
Nutzfläche • Floor space 200 m 2
Fotos Carola Ripamonti
Mehr Infos auf Seite • More infos on page 150
IMARIKA BOUTIQUE
IN MILAN
Since 1979, Benedetta Bevilacqua, called Tina, has run
her small fashion boutique called Imarika near Milan's
city centre. Even 40 years later, you can still meet the
Grand dame - now a real institution in Milan's fashion
scene - in her shop every day. The premises have re-
cently been redesigned and extended by Marcante
Testa, a Turin-based architectural firm.
A nyone who thinks of extensive luxury shopping and an exclusive
as well as largest possible selection of fashion stores offering clo-
thes in the highest price ranges will probably soon come up with the
Italian fashion capital Milan. In addition to several world-famous pla-
ces to go, such as the Galleria Vitorio Emanuelle or the Rinascente de-
partment store, there are also countless small to medium-sized bou-
tiques throughout the city that sell selected luxury fashion products.
One of the most renowned fashion stores is Imarika, a small but fine
boutique situated not far from Porta Venezia, which has been selling
an exclusive selection of selected and exceptional fashion items for
40 years. Elegance and good taste, but also the fun in fashion are pa-
ramount, and nobody embodies these principles better than the foun-
der of the business: Benedetta Bevilacqua. Visitors can still find the
elderly lady in her boutique every day, where she advises customers
on questions of style – always dressed stunningly extravagantly, of
course –, observes what's going on from a chair or even helps to put
the sales items back in the right place. In short, the Imarika Boutique
is Tina's territory. That's why it was her decision to commissioned the
architectural firm Marcante Testa from Turin to give the store a cleaner
and more contemporary look. This re-design concept is characterised
above all by the wall surfaces designed in soft colours and the clay-
plastered dividing elements, which harmonise excellently with the
elegant terrazzo flooring, which is the only remnant of the original fur-
nishings to have been maintained. Several copper struts direct the vi-
sitor's attention to the ceiling, which is decorated with ornamental
stucco and artistic lighting elements that were designed by the archi-
tects themselves. The rather subdued colour scheme is supported on
the one hand by other materials such as shiny white laminate or pink
wood surfaces, and on the other hand by the somewhat dreamy,
round design vocabulary of the room dividers used to structure the
room. A calm yet stylish interior that seems to have been made for
Tina and her Imarika Boutique.
AIT 9.2019 • 085