Italian studio Antonio Ravalli Architetti have transformed the ground floor of a warehouse in Verona, Italy, into a showroom featuring gathered translucent curtains hanging from the ceiling.

The translucent curtains create partitions within the double-height space, which houses a clothing showroom that doubles up as a temporary exhibition space.

An air-conditioning system blowing air into the space causes the curtains to move continuously.

On the exterior, a reflective black glass façade at street level means that while views into the space are restricted, visitors can see clearly out to the street.

Stacks of reclaimed wooden beams have been painted white and topped with sheets of treated metal to provide tables.

Photographs are by Antonio Ravalli Architetti.

Here’s a bit more information from the architects:

CONDITIONS:

The program plans to set a clothing showroom, with an inclination to host contemporary art exhibition, inside an anonymous warehouse of the 70’s located in the outskirts of Verona, counting on an absolutely limited budget.

It’s necessary to gain more rooms for the different activities out of a whole, stereometric, double height space, perimetered by a high ribbon window.

Outside, the warehouse is placed inside a good quality urban scene, with a wide view which opens to east.

DEVICES:

A light and permeable separation, made of nonwoven fabric used in agriculture, constitutes the structure for the different rooms.

A black glass window establish the relation between inside and outside, softening the interior light, while signaling to the outside the singularity of the realized space.

The grey paint used for the whole interior space, is applied equally to the external façades, dematerializing the anonymous prospects of the existing building.

Furniture are entirely made with stacks of white painted, recovered wooden beams.

The tables, made of metal sheets treated with acid, host the working stations.

The industrial-like air conditioning system reacts with the lightness of the fabric walls, creating a continuous soft movement which emphasize the dynamism of the space.

CREDITS:

project: art gallery Showroom in Verona

location: Verona, Italy

architects: Antonio Ravalli Architetti / Antonio Ravalli, Simone Pelliconi, Valentina Milani, Lorenzo Masini, Giuseppe Crispino

client: Nord srl

category: interiors

area: 360 m2

year: 2010

materials: tnt curtain, black glass, wood, white beam, concrete