#PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE PROJECTS
Bonaveri Milano - the house of mannequins by Emma Davidge, creative director of Chameleon Visual
The new Bonaveri showroom is entirely dedicated to the visual merchandising world, to fashion and creativity behind the glass
BonaveriMilano– the new showroom dedicated to visual merchandising, fashion and creativity – opened with a Christmas party and found its habitat in shop windows. The company – leader in the creation of top quality mannequins – chose a space of 600 sq.m. in via Morimondo, 25. The building, designed by Giuseppe Tortato Architects, is located near the ex Richard Ginori area, in a territory reach of bounds with the city industrial and manufacture tradition. Today it’s an important fashion and creativity hub. The interior design project was delegated to Emma Davidge creative director of Chameleon Visual, who developed the general concept and looked after the opening installation.
THE LOCATION
BonaveriMilano is not only a space for the representation of successful mannequins from the fashion world, but also a versatile place enhanced with symbolic elements. An environment with an industrial imprint, with a severe concrete facade carrying a peculiar pattern of eyelets and glass cubes framed by led stripes and conveying
the idea of a territory landmark. Inside, the space holds a horseshoe-shaped structure, facing a patio framed by windows going up its whole length flooding the space with natural light. From the wide initial volume you go up on iconic metal stairs and the railing leads your attention first to a mezzanine floor to end up in a big 260 sq.m. terrace. The space is multifunctional: at the entrance there’s a wide area dedicated to a permanent mannequin exhibition, going on to a working area based on image storytelling on Bonaveri’s creative, sculptural and handcrafted processes, to end up in a “lounge area”. On this last one – devoted to multimediality – dominates a huge bookcase from floor to ceiling, hosting fashion, arts and design catalogues. The second floor hosts offices, a guestroom and the access to a big terrace where spring events will take place.
THE INSTALLATION
The big central space opens with an installation created by Emma Davidge as a tribute to the work of the artist Lorenzo Piemonti, “Momenti tubolari”. In a period of his pure artistic activity, Piemonti has also worked as a mannequin sculptor leaving an indelible sign in the history of this field thanks to his wonderful silhouettes of the Schlaeppi collection in the 60’s/70’s. The evergreen bodies are still very contemporary and they represent a real visionary work, which inspired Emma Davidge in her creative and artistic process.
Around this new social and working space Bonaveri wants to animate its business relationships and the development of bespoke new products, but the idea is also to start a real schedule of activities and events. BonaveriMilano will be a dynamic melting pot, suitable to host exhibitions and cultural events involving the world of fashion, design and arts. This will be achieved starting from activities dedicated to support young designers and the relationships with training institutions through a programme based on help and initiatives.