THE GOLDEN AGE, ARMANI/CASA 2012-2013 COLLECTION
A coherent philosophy, the quest for a perfect balance between substance
and form, and a sense of beauty as the expression of the finest quality:
the Armani/Casa project, which was born more than ten years ago, speaks of
an extraordinary evolution of style and colors in home furnishing and a
philosophy of décor that is an unprecedented fusion of minimal, yet rich,
decorative elements. These are the very characteristics, along with fine
materials and finishes, that are the foundations of this rigorously
designed and unique new collection, where two different worlds come
together in an imaginary journey that takes us from Venice to the East, to
Japan.
The textiles in the Armani/Casa Exclusive Textiles by Rubelli collection
are extraordinarily refined. Enriched with sumptuous threads and designs
(of particular note is the pattern inspired by Renaissance iconography),
the workmanship and weaving technology used to create the fabrics
complement semi plains and geometric patterns as well as the unique texture
of micro-canneté fabric.
The Armani/Casa philosophy, which embraces the rare and the prestigious, is
applied to a new bookshelf, the Freud, which can also function as a
partition. The surfaces are panelled in Marqueterie de Paille, an exclusive
French technique popular in the Twenties and Thirties that has fallen out
of favour due to its difficulty and laboriousness. Only a select number of
small ateliers have the know how to re-create this workmanship where single
strands of straw are patiently flattened and smoothed out with a small hand
held hammer and then cut individually to the exact size required to create
a given pattern – the same technique favoured by Jean Michel Frank. To give
selected pieces of the collection depth and elegance, a special turtle
decoration lacquer has been hand created by a decorator and applied to
tables, coffee tables and bureaus. The striped gilded silver leaf stucco
finish is also especially refined, and is artfully obtained using a stucco
technique that endows the pieces with a three dimensional quality and an
interesting tactile quality.
Workmanship, painstaking finishes in warm satin natural brass, shiny
veining and streaks, and sprays of gold infuse the pieces with a soft and
unusual light, uncommon in single items of furniture. This detailing
enhances the unique quality of the pieces, which become design elements
that are introduced into home décor with the passion of an art collector.
To illustrate this, witness the “Gold on Gold” showcase: the seven windows
of the Armani/Casa boutique that face Via Manzoni and Via Pisoni reveal an
extraordinary decorative landscape where each golden-hued piece of
furniture shimmers in a golden environment, creating an illuminating
connection between the selected pieces and their settings.
Thus, imbued with traditional know how, with an ever finer line between the
artist who discovers the craftsman in himself and the craftsman who creates
artistic pieces of furniture, the objets d’art in the collection look to
the expert glass craftsmanship of Murano for small hand “scratched”,
acid-etched and bevelled vases, as well as coin and trinket trays and
paperweights, all displaying the Giorgio Armani lettering in full.
The gift items in the collection are unique and amusing: a cartridge belt
to hold coloured pencils and watercolour paints, fireplace accessories
inspired by the practical design of clothes racks, and a magnificent gold
and dark oak chess set that impeccably complements the Oreste coffee table.
The collection also includes a box that opens up to become a cutting board,
decorative cushions in hand tie-dyed Tussar silk in an extraordinarily well
defined grid-like pattern, and cashmere, mohair and merino wool blankets in
a selection of colours including pine green, the colour of the season.
