Passersby can perch in the facade of Italian marble brand Marsotto's new showroom in Milan, which has been designed by multidisciplinary studio Nendo.
From afar, the front of Marsotto's showroom in Milan's Brera district looks as if it's sealed up by blocks of veiny white marble.
To achieve this, Nendo lined the entire facade ? including the flush front door ? in marble tiles, being careful to set them in line with the existing stonework on the building.
Top image: people can perch in the showroom's facade. Above: the facade appears to be sealed up with marble
At one point the tiles dip inwards to form a small nook where passersby on the street can sit.
"Because the traffic circle facing the showroom will soon be greened and turned into a small park, part of the facade was made into impromptu street furniture with a soft recess on it, in the hopes that neighbours might sit as if on a bench and rest for a spell," Nendo explained. A flush-set door can be pushed back to reveal the showroom's entryway
Beyond the showroom's front door lies a small white-painted entryway. Pale marble has been used again here to cover the floor and to form a screen which obscures the staircase leading down to the basement.
The screen is made up of two overlapping slabs of 10-millimetre-thick marble, each punctuated with holes that measure 65 millimetres wide.
"The partition's tempered transparency and lightness reduce the oppressiveness of the marble constitution, softly drawing vis...