Andrea Marcante and Adelaide Testa have designed a renovation and extension for Imarika, one of the most well known womenswear multibrand stores in Milan’s Porta Venezia neighbourhood. The project studies the space carefully, enhancing it with architectural elements that have a clear and precise formal and functional identity.

The use of Raw Earth throughout walls and fixtures evokes a soft tactile experience and shows how materials can transform a space; bespoke clays TerraVista Smooth Vinaccia and TerraVista Fango (with Plus customisation on furniture) were developed by Matteo Brioni for this project.

The shop is divided by an angular wooden screen that has been plastered in clay, which articulates the different display areas and also becomes a display in itself (both for the windows and for the shop’s interior), on which shoes, bags and accessories can be placed. Another small architectural element, also rendered in clay, contains the changing rooms.

The formal expression and the consideration of material – from the clay to the pink briar wood used for the hexagonal display cases and the sales counter, as well as the white gloss laminate, the plexiglass. the copper and trimmings – do not interfere with the architectural shell, but instead create an architectural landscape; an approach that makes reference to the extraordinary experience of the Olivetti shops, designed by Franco Albini, BBPR and others between the 30’s and the 50’s.