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no. 7/nov 2011

contract news

Opened in October 2011, Canter-bury’s Marlowe Theatre – named after the Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe who was born in the city – is, in the words of its architect Keith Williams, a very rare thing – “A new contemporary theatre within a magnificent historic cathedral city; its architecture is clearly contemporary, yet it’s been conceived to fit comfortably within its historic surroundings”. Occupy-ing a central site on the banks of the River Stour with Canterbury Cathedral nearby, the re-build of the region’s leading receiving house for

Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury UKmajor touring productions has been completed in just two-and-a-half years. The original theatre, a 1933 former Odeon cinema converted to theatrical use in 1984, closed in March 2009 and the demolition team moved in the month after, with only some backstage areas retained. Construction of the new building be-gan in July 2009 and was completed in September 2011.

Poltrona Frau Contract supplied and installed 1,200 custom-made chairs at the Marlowe Theatre. The seats come in several variations, with

three different widths, heights and back angles to ensure an ideal view and ergonometry from every single seat. Other options include high backrests; tilt-up footrests linked to the seat pan; individual removable seats; seats without armrests; usher seats; and non-fixed chairs. The Mar-lowe seats and backrests are based on the design of the ‘Ascolto’ seat from the Gufram collection, which was designed for theatres by Studio Gregotti Associati. The seat’s design provides an optimal ergonomic and comfort experience for its users maximising the theatre experience.

photography by Getty Images

01/architecture

www.pfgcontract.com

no. 7/nov 2011

contract news

The Opéra Garnier’s first ever restau-rant has opened in July 2011 and has become Paris’ toughest reservation. The architectural office of Odile DECQ Benoit CORNETTE - Architectes Urban-istes was assigned to the project after a contest and the project was com-pleted within the space of three years (2008-2011). The Phantom restaurant is located at the Opéra Garnier, more commonly known as the Paris Opéra, a 1,600-seat opera house on the Place de l’Opéra in Paris, France, which was the primary home of the Paris Opera from 1875 until 1989. The grand build-ing designed by Charles Garnier in the Neo-Baroque, or “Baroque Revival” style was and is regarded as one of the architectural masterpieces of its time.

The name of the restaurant pays hom-age to where “The Phantom” was born. Architect Odile Decq of Odile DECQ Benoit CORNETTE - Architectes Urbanistes dealt with many constraints during the design process; it was forbidden to touch or alter the original structure as the restaurant needed to be “reversible”. All the facilities, piers, mezzanines and equipment were integrated into the site without alter-ing the stone structure, pillars, walls or ceiling. Working with such limita-tions and standards applied to French historic buildings was a challenging but inspiring task, to say the least.

The design idea for this project is based around creating a space that will highlight the restaurant inside the Opera Garnier, without mimicking the existing monument, respecting it whilst affirming its truly contempo-rary character. Poltrona Frau Con-tract supplied custom made seating elements designed exclusively for this project by Odile Decq.

The Phantom Restaurant at Opéra Garnier Paris

Photography by: © Roland Halbe

01/architecture

www.pfgcontract.com

no. 7/nov 2011

contract news

For the first time in Italy, the Suite movie lounge is realized in Space Odeon Cinema, in the heart of Milan, just a few steps from Duomo. The Suite cinema lounge concept was thought with the aim of creating a private luxury movie theatre meeting state-of-the-art aesthetical and tech-nological requirements. The project consists of a full floor of 300 square meters divided in a multi-function lounge area and a 32 seat VIP movie theatre. Generous seating blocks dominate the lounge area providing maximum comfort with a full ser-viced bar in an elegant environment.

Cassina has realized all the interiors designed by Marco Bonelli of Bam Design. The project was executed in a “turn-key” philosophy. Every little building detail was brought to life by Cassina Contract. The walls are upholstered with prestigious damask fabric in the tones of orange and gold complementing the dark wood floors and dark lacquer furni-ture with bronzed structure.

The reclining armchairs, specifically designed for the project by Poltrona Frau, are upholstered by pelle® Frau and resistant to any type of impact. This is a true premier for these cin-ema chairs that were developed and installed for the first time in a movie theater in Italy.

“Suite” by Space Cinema Odeon Milan

02/design

www.pfgcontract.com

no. 7/nov 2011

contract news

NTV – Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori (New Transport for Travellers) Casa Italo NTV is the first private operator on the Italian high speed rail network and the first operator in the world to use the new Alstom AGV train that currently holds the high speed train record. The service will start by the end of 2011 with the name of “Italo”.

The project, which won a competi-tion commissioned in early 2009 by NTV transport company, originated from a concept created by the Milan architecture studios Stefano Boeri Architetti in collaboration with dot-dotdot. It is based on the idea of a

new type of service centre designed to help travellers in the form of a fluid, high-technology space.

Cassina Contract is proud to con-tribute to this revolutionary project by providing the fit-out and all FF&E for the 12 ‘Casa Italo’ lounges na-tionwide in Italy.

Q: What is the importance of “high speed trains” for the evolution of contemporary urbanization?

A: Travelling and the speed of

travel have changed radically. Today, rail travel means undergoing a fluid experience in space and time, in a continuous process from departure to arrival that includes decisions, movement, periods of waiting, and the journey time itself. Linking places, connecting people, fluxing of information are the elements of a new kind of urbanization which goes beyond the physical bounder-ies of architecture and concentrates more on its immaterial qualities. High speed trains crontibute to the realization of a “link urbanism”.

03/design q&a: Stefano Boeri Architetti

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no. 7/nov 2011

contract news

Q: What would be your expected experience of a traveler in Casa Italo?

A: Casa Italo proposes a new type of traveler experience, where the servic-es centre designed to help travellers, in the form of a fluid, high-technology space. Comfort, functionality and soft pragmatism are the main lines of its design: in which all the surfaces vis-ible to travellers in transit are physi-cally transformed into an interactive and communicative interface that defines the interiors within stations. Casa Italo is an open and extremely permeable concept. By means of its interactive characteristics, it is a location at which the duration of travellers’ stay there is up to travel-lers themselves and their individual requirements. There is a direct rela-tionship between duration of use and the personalized spaces and services dedicated to travellers.

To meet travellers’ requirements in terms of speed, with a minimum time actually spent in the station, Casa Italo has an interactive exte-rior space, which enables tickets to be purchased, and displays train

sa, in a dynamic environment that is capable of changing according to traveller requirements.

Q: Which design elements are completely newly introduced to the travel industry through Casa Italo?

A: The components that form the uniform, straight-wall perimeter of Casa Italo are part of an “alpha-bet” of modular units which can be used to create spaces with the maximum flexibility, allowing for future enlargement. Towards the top of each unit there is the LED strip display that continues from the exterior face inside, creating an element of visual continuity between exterior and interior. The furnishing elements that complete the definition of the Casa Italo interiors are designed in the form of circular islands, around which people can circulate freely: the info desk (providing information for travellers), relaxation armchairs (seating units for personal use, or for use by groups of people), and wifi tables (for online use, and for supplying electricity for personal electronic equipment).

Q: Can you tell about how was your journey in this project with Cassina?

A: The carefull engeneering process of the furnitures’components was developed together with Cassina Contract. The collaboration with the firm thanks to its established excellent knowledge allowed the optimization of the production and the achievement of top quality levels concerning the materials and use of furnitures’elemennts in public and higly frequented spaces.

arrival and departure times without having to enter the hall itself. Large LCD monitors and ticket vending machines are included in this face of the structure, and, along with the red .Italo train profile, a large clock, and a LED strip display, they enable travellers to recognize Casa .italo inside the station.For travellers who need help, or a location at which to spend some time waiting for a train, Casa Italo provides services and waiting areas inside. The space is enclosed by a multi-function, high-technology wall which continues the flow of information supplied on the outside wall, offering further servic-es to travellers: ticket issue, informa-tion on train arrival and departure, interfaces for internet use, the dis-tribution of magazines and leaflets, fold-down seats, and litter bins. The perimeter of Casa Italo includes, built into the thickness of the wall, the technological systems for the various service units available. Prox-imity sensors detect the presence of people and change the function of touch screen monitors, transforming simple information panels into auto-matic ticket machines and vice-ver-

03/design q&a: Stefano Boeri Architetti

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no. 7/nov 2011

contract news

World Architecture Festival 2011 BarcelonaWorld Architecture Festival is the world’s largest, live, truly inclusive and interactive global architectural awards program. It is a unique meet-ing point for architects, suppliers and clients, attracting hundreds of entries and visitors from all over the world. The fourth World Architectural Festi-val (WAF), the world’s largest, inter-active architectural event, opened its doors to more than 1,300 delegates on the 2nd of November.

WAF 2011 was the most exciting yet with a plethora of seminars and keynote talks discussing the themes of ‘disaster’ and ‘difference’ by 35 inspirational industry experts. An exhibition of over 700 of the world’s most exciting architectural projects entered into the WAF Awards 2011 were on display throughout the week and visitors had the chance to watch architects from Japan to Jordan and Netherlands to Namibia

present their projects to a panel of esteemed judges.

PFG Contract is a proud partner and sponsor of the World Architecture Festival, as it perfectly reflects our close collaboration & relationship with the A&D community around the world. To know more about the festival and the 2011 winning proj-ects please visit: www.worldarchitecturefestival.com.

04/life&people

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no. 7/nov 2011

contract news

New Design for Cappellini Milan ShowroomCappellini is delighted to announce the opening of a newly designed showroom in Milan. While the address is the same, Via Santa Cecilia 4, the space, after nearly two months under the restructuring art direction of Giulio Cappellini, is completely new. This follows on from the launch, less than a year previous, of the Cappellini’s Paris flagship store in St Germain. Continuing the theme that each flag-ship store has a signature monochro-matic interior – blue in Los Angeles, red in New York and purple in Paris – the predominant colour of the new store in Milan is yellow. Yellow is a colour closely associated with the city, from the famous trams to the old taxis, from saffron risotto to the façade of the buildings. In addition, it is a tone that has always been part of the Cappel-lini colour palette. The new interiors have been redesigned to respond more closely to the taste of today’s archi-tects and designers.

True to the spirit of the company, Cap-pellini hits Milan with a touch of magic and innovation, making this unique space a destination that is likely to become a new city attraction in itself.

For this event an exhibition, “Homage to Shiro”, named after Shiro Kuramata who worked closely with Giulio Cappellini, has been realized. The exceptional pieces exhibited included iconic products from the Cappellini standard collection (such as Progetti Compiuti, Revolving Cabinet and Homage to Mondrian), as well as re-productions of original drawings, rare prototypes and the Dinah, a unique project dating from 1970 that Cappellini recently added to its collection.

04/life&people