A look inside the making of Utopian Rationale shop

with young Neapolitan architect Carmine Abate

—

Hello, design junkies!

When we heard there was a new shop in Castellammare di Stabia; the excitement was overwhelming. Finally, the lucky people of Naples will have the opportunity to visit this shop with a futuristic spirit.

Located in the historic city of Naples, the young Neapolitan architect Carmine Abate leaves everything unchanged: the raw material of wood, the mirror that is already a cult for users, and, the iconic red neon inscription "forevermore", born as a tribute to the Irish "unconventional diva" Róisín Murphy, her always sophisticated looks, her appeal, and her particular performances, is now a lucky charm.

The end result? A futuristic yet intimate interior.

Here, we get a first look at the incredible space, as the architect takes us through the process of creating the shop.

The characterising element of the intervention is the massive use of tiles in a 10x10cm format in ice white, with a 5mm joint, which makes the whole volume square. About 20,000 were used! Even in this case, although it was not a historical building, the biggest difficulty was to make the floor and ceiling tiles match the walls. For this reason, a plasterboard wall job was first done to align the corners and then everything was covered.

To complement this series of titles, some elements were added into the space to enrich the scene. Like the coffee table by the modern and contemporary brand Poliform.

The table continues with the pattern of the tiles. Instead, the sofa lights up the environment in colour and carries as a plinth a black diamond-tipped wedge, which turns along allor the circumference.

The walnut briar case seems suspended, thanks to the optical effect of the fully reflective plinth. Resting on it the "Chiara" by Mario Bellini for Flos.

The mirrors turn on three sides, creating a "mise en abyme" effect. The "Superleggera" chair by Gio' Ponti for Cassina, helps in the testing of footwear. The dressing rooms have a silver laminate curtain.

Wooden display compartments and velvet platforms. Wooden logs on a gold base for displaying shoes and cylinders in steel or lacquered for display accessories.

Emergency lights and neon writing "Forever more", a quote from the song by Roisin Murphy, diva, and muse of the architect.