Offices for Fornari, Milan

21 January 2010

Offices for Fornari, Milan

A sensational statement entrance way full of color and curves is made more extraordinary by the cool and simple spaces it leads to.

Key facts

PROJECT: Offices for Fornari
DESIGNER: Giorgio Borruso Design
CLIENT: Fornari
SIZE: 3,000 sq m
COMPLETION TIME: Two years

Project description:

With its pristine white walls, exposed black steel columns, flowing curves and stylish tinted glass, this office for Italian company Fornari is beautiful in its simplicity.

In a spacious building in Milan’s Navigli district, which used to belong to porcelain company Richard Ginori, the space has been renovated by award-winning multi disciplinary practice Giorgio Borruso Design to house executive offices, areas for exhibitions and events, and a showroom.

It’s easy to see why this office won the International Interior Design Association’s award in 2009: while others throw in every idea, Borruso shows that what is left out is as important as what is put in.

So when you find yourself in the stunning entrance corridor, which draws you into the reception area, the flowing rivers of colour, created with translucent backlit panels, feel all the more exciting because of the clean white that dominates the rest of the office.

The panels on the walls and ceiling of the corridor conceal colour-changing LEDs; along the edges of the panels, steel railings – which function as handrails on the walls but are simply decorative on the ceiling – converge and diverge. The same resin material has been used on the floors, walls and ceiling, creating the impression that the corridor could be rotated by 90 degrees and would function in the same way – it gives the peculiar sensation that you could walk justt as easily on the walls or ceiling.

In the main office, the curves along the right-hand wall lead to a bar/cafe area. The fluid curves of the entrance corridor are echoed by the curving staircase with tinted glass balustrades, which connects the building’s two floors. It has been called a ‘spine’ by the designers both for its shape and because it links the separate elements of the office.

The underside of the staircase has been illuminated in a similar way to the entrance corridor and a strip of resin flooring creates an area where the company displays products.

Famed for his experiments with form, such as his cocoon-shaped dressing rooms for fashion chain Miss Sixty, Borruso has done it again with this office. It’s a perfect juxtaposition of bold colorful design and clean, open spaces.

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