Forte Forte Roma Interior design retail

Press Kit

Unique Properties

The eternal city in which the stratigraphy of eras and styles can be read at every corner, in every stone, induces a reflection on matter. The focus is on contrast, because in rome contrast has always been harmony.
In the city of travertine, we renounces one of the essential materials of its own grammar of elements in order to place amazement before redundancy. The boutique looks like a vibrant monolith of green onyx, a precious material with a unique design that contains thousand–year history.

Dimensions & Packaging

Total net area m2 71; Sales area m2 53

Tags

Forte Forte Roma, Retail Design, Green Onyx treated in large symmetrical blocks, Brass, Boudoir–like changing rooms in sage–colored capitonné velvet, Eternal City, Artisanal, Historic Building

Production Technology

The sense of the entire project is permeated by the respect for the location, the design of every single detail and the attention of the forms and materials. The execution was made thanks to skilled craftsmen who were able to assemble and model unique pieces, creating an immersive atmosphere in which to enjoy the pleasure of the space and experience of design.

Design Challenge

The challenging moment is about the concept itself which take in consideration a complete custom made and artisanal project located in a historic building under the protection of the city superintendence of fine arts.
Working with the green onyx treated in large symmetrical blocks means to design the whole space counting every single millimeters. A great artisanal team made this project possible.
During this period of global pandemic and lock–down safety was maintained at first while time and budget remained under control.

Research

From the creative dialogue between Robert Vattilana and Giada Forte a language is born which, following a rhythm and a metric that is different each time and locations, becomes a lingo. The opening of the new Roman boutique, at number 4c in via Borgognona, in the heart of what was once the Campo Marzio, in a street full of character marks a new chapter and affirms a new idiom, made of extreme synthesis, of a desire for intime permanence. A sense of gentle power, of timeless lightness pervades the whole.

Inspiration

The spatial narrative is an ongoing path in which powerful and present materials and pure forms – now airy and impalpable, now solid – are molded on the unique characteristics of the place. Meaning by locus, not so much, or not only, the immediate surroundings, as the genius loci itself, and with it the city.

Project Duration

The project started in december 2019 in Rome and finished in october 2020

Operation Flow

The green onyx, which thanks to the particular mineral structure dematerializes in contact with the light in a nuanced transparency.
It is a stone that comes from Afghanistan, an area of extinct volcanoes, and whose history is at least as long as that of the city. Treated in large symmetrical blocks and worked to obtain a matte surface, green onyx creates a total immersion in the shop: it drowns the entire space, from floors to walls.
The entire perimeter of the scenic box is illuminated and marked by a cascade of light, while panels of polished brass folded in on themselves and anchored by brass stitching make up the back wall. In contrast, the ceilings are white in the initial part of the shop,
with inclined and dynamic bands, while in the second they open in a geometric composition of luminous portholes. In such an affirmative space, the dressing rooms closed by brass hinged doors opened by portholes are a mysterious presence, which reveals feminine, boudoir–like interiors in sage–colored capitonné velvet.

Image Credits

All photos credit: Danilo Scarpati Photographer