Farini Bakery | studio wok

The architectural project gives form to the aesthetic imagery that Farini brand has built and defined over the years through its stores, characterized by a warm minimalism that reached its peak with the Milanese location designed by John Pawson.

The interior space is conceived as a welcoming, monochromatic shell, whose value is expressed through its details, materials, textures and the natural light that enters through the four large windows. The colour palette evokes the brown shades of the surrounding urban pavement in porphyry cobbles, which seems, ideally, to flow into the interior.

The protagonist of Farini Bakery is the long counter, made of stainless steel and cork bricks, which runs longitudinally throughout the space, brushed by the light coming from the adjacent window.
The strictness of the shapes and details creates a stage to show the bakery's products, further enhanced by the double suspended lamp designed by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec.

A shelf, born as an expansion of the shell, runs parallel to the counter along the edge facing Piazza Argentina. A series of stools, designed specifically by studio wok along with the cylindrical tables, invite customers to enjoy the gastronomic experience in a hybrid space between the domestic and the urban dimension.

Behind the counter, a bookcase made of satin glass and steel shelves serves as a transition device between the main room and the kitchen, allowing light to pass thorugh, flooding the bakery.

The brick-cladded volume introduces in the project a strong material presence, yet maintaining a balance between the organic imperfection of its elements and the measured rigor of shapes and technical materials.
Within this volume, a heavy and secret door marks the transition to the restroom, where a sudden change of style transports the customer into a lacquer-coloured dreamscape of reflections and luminous lines, in stark contrast to the soft atmosphere of the main room.

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Commission

Concept design, developed design, technical design and construction supervision.

Client

Farini Venezia srl

Companies/Products

Offstage - ceneral contractor
Camagni Arredamenti- custom made furniture La Calce del Brenta - lime plaster
Fornace S. Anselmo - bricks
Quadro - faucets
Flos- lighting
Location
Milan, Piazza Argentina

Photos
Simone Bossi photographer