Dezeen promotion: design brand Luminaire will unveil its newly refurbished Florida showroom next month, which is based on concept sketches by Italian architect and designer Piero Lissoni.
The 1,440-square-metre foot flagship furniture showroom in Coral Gables, south of Miami, was built 30 years ago and has won various awards from the American Institute of Architects (AIA).
Based on concept sketches by Piero Lissoni of Lissoni Associati, the new interior was implemented by Luminaire's in-house design team, and employs an aesthetic inspired by the "interplay between light and shadows".
"We conceived the building as a true monument to Bauhaus. It was minimal, essential and stood there to challenge all future vernacular in design," said president of Luminaire Nasir Kassamali.
"After 30 years and five awards we felt it was time to update the interior making it closer to the thinking of the building than it ever was."
On the first floor of the building, a 650-square-metre space is dedicated to contemporary manufacturer B&B Italia Miami, which has shared a 30-year business relationship with Luminaire.
The designers used a neutral colour palette to present the products, adding a black staircase to create a focal point within the space.
The new Luminaire space will officially open on Monday 1 December at 7pm and will be accompanied by a reception at 2331 Ponce de Leon Boulevard, Coral Gables, Florida 33134.
In June 2014, Lissoni hosted a one-off lecture at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art to celebrate an exhibition of his work at Luminaire's showroom in the city.
His past work includes Monaco & Grand Canal hotel in Venice, the Al Porto hotel on Lake Zurich and the Mitsui Garden Ginza Hotel in Tokyo.
Here is more information from Luminaire:
Celebrating 30 years in Coral Gables, Luminaire unveils its latest project: a dynamic interior renovation of its award-winning, 15,000-square-foot flagship showroom inspired by renowned Italian architect and designer Piero Lissoni and redesigned by the Luminaire design team.
The new interior continues to be a background to the unparalleled collection of the best in contemporary design. It now features B&B Italia Miami mono-brand space spread across 7,000 square feet on the first floor of the flagship showroom, which reaffirms the two companies' 30 years relationship and the alignment of their vision and philosophies.
The Luminaire space was originally opened in 1984, and, in the same year, the Miami Chapter of the AIA recognised the showroom with the Award of Honor in Architecture, while the AIA's Florida Association gave it the Award for Excellence in Architecture.
The building, which was created to showcase the company's philosophy that good design is a way of life, has continued to earn accolades from the AIA, garnering the Florida Association's 10-Year Test of Time Award in 1996, the 25-Year Test of Time Award from the Miami Chapter in 2008 and again from the Florida Association, the 25-Year Test of Time Merit Award of Excellence in 2012.
The interior project blends architectural details and materials, giving rise to a setting full of personality, with a strong, original and international image rich of ideas, proposals and solutions that inspire people and create environments that affect peoples lives.
Join us Monday 1 December at 7pm as we launch and celebrate the new Luminaire experience.
About Luminaire
For nearly 40 years, Luminaire has been a pioneering force in the design world, a result of the uniquely personal and long-lasting relationships the company has cultivated with an international roster of the most innovative designers and manufacturers of contemporary furniture, lighting and accessories. These invaluable associations enable us to offer our customers an incomparable selection of the most exquisite furnishings available, while Luminaire's in-house team manages the entire spectrum of our clients 'experience, from selection to installation, providing an unrivaled level of attention at each step.
Luminaire is more than a furniture showroom. It is an interactive design research center, a playground for the soul, an esplanade for discovery. More than anything else, however, it is a resource focused on creating environments that affect people's lives. The component parts of this unifying philosophy – the necessity of design education, the desire for limitless inspiration and the requirement for impeccably detailed execution – affect every item in our collection, and reflect our dedication to make good design accessible to all.
Two Miami locations include the flagship Coral Gables showroom, which communicates the company's original vision: that good design is a way of life, and the Design District's Luminaire Lab that serves as a focal point for experimentation by challenging one's sensibilities and driving new directions in design thinking with innovative installations. Also in Miami are Luminaire's corporate offices and warehouse, the company's nerve center that manages a highly sophisticated system of tracking, distribution and delivery.
Outside of Miami, the three-level Chicago showroom displays the latest collections from the world's most preeminent designers, continuing to evoke and revel in the intersections and effects of good design in today's domestic environments. Designed to stimulate the senses, each space incorporates color, texture, space, light and sound, reflecting Luminaire's uniquely holistic philosophy and reshaping the idea of what a design store can be.