One of the project’s main objectives was to create something special, something unique. The need to create numerous display areas was a priority, whilst at the same time avoiding the conventional image of a traditional shop. Based on a carefully considered layout and functional plan, the idea was to arrange a series of volumes—diverse in character and material—in a dynamic balance with one another; a balance in which, for example, the fitted wall at the back turns at a right angle towards the entrance, the administrative office space appears to float from the ceiling in an upward motion, the Corten steel partition glides in front of the staircase, and the wall-mounted shelves slide past one another against a backdrop of light-coloured stone. Everything seems to be in motion around a luminous and light ‘pivot’ – a large central glass display case housing the most precious and distinctive products of the LAO Concept Store. Many have already dubbed it an ‘aquarium’, perhaps because of the lightness with which the exhibited works seem to float within such a crystal-clear and luminous space.
The materials that define the spaces were chosen simply by getting to know and discovering the very soul of Marzamemi, strolling amongst its stone houses, observing the rust-red patina on the anchors and chains of the boats, on the locks and gates, and admiring the white foam of the waves and the crystalline brilliance of its sky. It took just a few hours to feel the need to bring these colours and these ‘tactile’ sensations into the store, almost as if to connect with the spirit of the place, almost as if to evoke its presence.
Light was the glue that held it all together: as if in harmony, the light falls like a shower of notes upon the central cubic display cases, punctuates the rhythm of the exhibition niches in the background with a decisive beat, soars in a poignant ‘solo’ both inside and outside the large central aquarium, and highlights the luminous gorges like the plucks of a violin… Light is the invisible framework of this architecture, indispensable also for the regeneration and enhancement of the external façade, where the two panels/signs flanking the two entrances stand out.