Barovier&Toso opens a new boutique in Venice designed by Nichetto Studio and chooses the best-known street for fashion and luxury shopping, Calle Larga XXII Marzo, a few steps from Piazza San Marco. The boutique will be a showcase on the world, a call for Italian and international customers to visit Palazzo Barovier&Toso in Murano where the company is based.
Year of important goals for Barovier&Toso which, after announcing the opening of a subsidiary in the USA and immediately following an important presence at Euroluce and Fuorisalone, today announces the opening of a boutique in Venice designed by Nichetto Studio, in Calle Larga XXII Marzo.
The opening is part of a broader corporate strategy that aims to consolidate the presence of single-brand showrooms in the most important markets for the company over time, the best way to transfer the 360° Barovier&Toso experience to the customer. Currently the Barovier&Toso mono-brand spaces are, in addition to the latter opening in Venice, Murano, Milan, Singapore, Kuwait City. Opening soon, within the year, two spaces will be added in China (Shenzen and Shanghai) and New Delhi.
The location of the new boutique in Venice seemed strategic to intercept an international audience of true connoisseurs of beauty and Made in Italy. The space represents a showcase for the company and an “access portal” to Palazzo Barovier&Toso, on the nearby island of Murano, to date the largest and most prestigious of all the Barovier&Toso showrooms.
The new space is a miniature jewel, designed by Nichetto Studio as a tribute to the centuries-old tradition of the brand, which has its roots in the late 1200s.
It is a small boutique with great communicative power with respect to the brand’s values and expertise. The focus of the exhibition is above all decorative objects such as vases and table lamps.
The interior design reflects the aspect of a neoclassical monument, in which the predominant use of rough white travertine plays a fundamental role.
In this regard, Nichetto Studio provides the following design motivation:
“The beamed roofs of this space were the focal point of the design, and we capitalised on this unique feature to create a series of arches that lend a sense of depth. The combination of materials is a harmonious blend of Venetian terrazzo treated in soft tones on one side and contemporary smoothed concrete on the other.
At the heart of this design, we took inspiration from the Barovier cup (ed. masterpiece of Renaissance glass art, created by Angelo Barovier in 1460) and enlarged it out of scale to become the anchor point, imbuing the shop with a cozy living room ambiance. As Barovier&Toso is renowned for its lighting, we made a statement with a bespoke installation that serves both a lighting and architectural function, separating the store area from the showcase.
Emphasising the brand’s historicity, the interior design reflects the look of a neoclassical monument, using raw stones to create shelves and frames behind the desk where the Barovier&Toso crest is carved in bas-relief.
A glass block wall, patterned after Doric columns, enhances the depth perception by allowing light from the back to shine through”.
The boutique has a highly evocative showcase, a metaphor for the creative essence of Barovier&Toso. The theme chosen by Nichetto Studio is “Flora&Flutter”.
At the top, the eye is attracted by an installation created with the Trim lamp, called to perform both as lighting fixture and as an architectural function, separating the shop area from the window. Four rows of hexagonal tubes in Venetian crystal descend from the ceiling to the floor, made with the ancient technique known as ice, to form a wall of fringed light with a crystallized effect. This wall gradually rises and becomes an arch, directing the gaze towards the Barovier&Toso crest, engraved in the block of stone that dominates the internal space. In the lower part of the showcase, another installation celebrates and enhances the company’s mastery and experience in the art of glass. As leafy plants grow from the ground, a multitude of Venetian crystal objects bloom and visually intertwine, generating a luxuriant meadow of stems and flowers, flown over by suspended butterflies.
The palette is monochromatic, all in the liquid citron nuance, which accentuates the sober beauty of the individual processes and the intricate variety of elements, borrowed from various collections or created ad hoc for the occasion.
Regarding the “Flora&Flutter” project of the showcase, Studio Nichetto comments:
“Paying homage to Barovier&Toso’s heritage as masters of handcrafted Venetian glass, the window installation is an evocative metaphor for the art of glass-working and the brand’s creative essence. Our goal was to convey that, like the leafy plants that grow from the soil, glass objects sprout from the fertile silica soil - in this case, a bed of crushed glass.
In the upper part of the showcase, we’ve added glass butterflies and other decorative glass elements as a tribute to the intricate craftsmanship of traditional Venetian chandeliers. To underscore the materiality of glass, we chose a monochromatic palette, allowing the glass to be the main focus.
The result is an elegant showcase that accentuates the understated beauty of glass.”
Ultimately, the new Barovier&Toso boutique is prefigured as a precious opportunity for visibility for the brand, in a unique city like Venice, the original cradle of the art of Venetian crystal and which has always been an expression of Italian excellence.
