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MVRDV uses recycled champagne bottles to help Bulgari put sustainability on display in Shanghai

2021-12-10T13:03:00-05:00

Bulgari is getting a timely makeover this holiday thanks to a green facelift from MVRDV.

Using recycled champagne bottles, the Dutch firm was able to produce a dazzling new jade-like facade for the luxury retailer’s new Shanghai flagship.

Image: © Bulgari/Xia Zhi

A nod to the Art Deco style that has characterized both the city and brand, MVRDV’s installation continues its use of the cornice motif used for Bulgari formed by layered panels of brass and the recycled bottles. The panels are backlit at night to create an enticing glow for shoppers at the city’s Shanghai Plaza 66 shopping mall.

Image: © Bulgari/Xia Zhi

Per the architects: “The glass is completely recycled, produced at the Magna factory in Teutschenthal, Germany, which specializes in glass treatment. The project demonstrates the potential of sustainable recycled materials, even in luxury contexts, and takes one step towards MVRDV and Bulgari’s goal of store designs that are built using 100% circular economy materials.”

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AMO undertakes set design and video art direction for Bulgari's summer 2021 fine jewelry show

2021-06-28T13:14:00-04:00

AMO, the research branch of OMA, has revealed its designs for Italian luxury brand, Bulgari’s, Summer 2021 fine jewelry show.

Photo: Agostino Osio/Courtesy of AMO

The firm carried out the show’s set design and video art direction. It is being presented at the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, a major landmark in Milan and Italy’s oldest active shopping gallery. The project is led by OMA Partner Ellen van Loon and Giulio Margheri.

Photo: Agostino Osio/Courtesy of AMO

Striking uses of light and color create a dramatic atmosphere that compliments the grandiose, classical nature of the iconic building.

As stated in the project’s press release, “In manipulating scale and time, the show creates a mutually reinforcing encounter between the splendors of fine jewelry and architecture.”

Photo: Agostino Osio/Courtesy of AMO

“We conceptualized the production as an interplay of the lyrical and the mechanical,” says Ellen van Loon. “We wanted to create scenes that resonate with the design of fine je...

MVRDV completes second facade at flagship Bvlgari store in Bangkok

2021-01-19T12:37:00-05:00

MVRDV has completed its second facade at a flagship store for Italian jewelry brand Bvlgari in Bangkok. Located in the IconSiam department store, one of the largest malls in Asia, the project follows MVRDV's first facade design at a store in Kuala Lumpur that opened in 2018.

"With this design, we bring a Roman zest for life to Bangkok," said MVRDV founding partner Jacob van Rijs in a statement. "We are working on several Bvlgari stores simultaneously, always making sure that we use high-quality materials such as natural stone, tinted glass, copper, and gold as a basis. Though all the designs will be unique to their location, each will have a distinct Bvlgari signature."

MVRDV's facade designs for the Bvlgari stores take inspiration from the portals and cornices on the brand's very first store in Rome, located on Via dei Condotti since 1905.

The cornice form became a motif that MVRDV developed as a defining feature across the Bvlgari facades, deploying them in a variety of configurat...