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.
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.
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.”
Sustainability is a central part of the fashion house’s core business model, which has thus been enabled in two previous collaborations between the brand and the studio, a creative partnership that MVRDV’s founder says is made better with the introduction of the handcrafted materials that will be on display in the Nanjing Road facade.
“Our collaboration with Bulgari has yielded some fascinating material experiments,” Jacob van Rijs said in a statement. “It’s a passion we share with them, albeit in different design disciplines. The Shanghai store encapsulates the value of these experiments: given the right treatment and detailing, leftover champagne and beer bottles, which would otherwise be thrown away, become a jewel for the city.”
1 Comment
"leftover champagne and beer bottles, which would otherwise be thrown away" might not be accurate expression, most of those bottles are recycled even in Shanghai, but this looks great in any case
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