Impressed by Milan, Cartier’s Architects Redesign a Flagship

“The customer who walks in has the feeling of an actor stepping onto an amazing stage,” Mr. Moinard mentioned. “You might be right here to see and to be seen. From each vantage level, you’ve gotten a worldwide view of the house and into each salon, like a stage inside a stage.”
Mahogany wall panels recall the hulls of the traditional Riva boats on close by Lake Como whereas the geometric motifs on the stone flooring, echoed in a trompe l’oeil on the carpeting, are primarily based on mosaic patterns made well-known by Mr. Ponti, a Milanese architect.
The tones used all through the house are impartial with touches of pink or ocher, primarily within the materials protecting the upholstered furnishings. “Distinct atmospheres are created with pastel colours for the female part, and earthier tones with wooden paneling for the masculine areas,” Mr. Moinard mentioned, referring to the groupings of bijou and small watches and of cuff hyperlinks and bigger watch fashions. “Now we have used some pink accents, and a shade of champagne for the metallic fixtures for a extra soothing, fashionable really feel.”
The bottom flooring’s central shows — which home Cartier’s present collections, together with a restricted version Tank Asymétrique watch supplied as a Milan boutique unique — are mounted on sculpted metallic bases within the form of what the reopening information launch described as “finely chiseled golden petals,” to call to mind Milan’s fountains.
Within the far finish of the shop, a glass-encased and white marble staircase wraps round a glass elevator and panther motifs, a traditional Cartier signature, are carved within the white partitions that line the steps. Summary first, then step by step extra life like, leafy shapes accompany the customer as much as the highest flooring, hinting on the hidden backyard there. The ground additionally accommodates the V.I.P. house known as La Residence, a salon with a planted terrace designed by the Milanese architects Stefano Boeri Interiors as a nod to the numerous walled gardens of Milan.
General, Ms. Bétaille mentioned, “This boutique is a spot the place you deliver your loved ones, pals or a accomplice to take pleasure in a second of conviviality. Our job was to create a singular setting full of refined particulars that piques a customer’s curiosity to return and uncover extra.”