Genoa – Italian architecture studio Gosplan has combined modern gymnasium style with 15th-century history in its new design for fashion boutique Il Salotto (Italian for the living room).
Functional beige wall tiles and a blue linoleum floor rub up against vaulted ceilings and rustic plasterwork in a nod to the growing fetishisation of fitness culture among Millennials.
The locker-room look extends to display units as clothing, mirrors and accessories hang from white bent metal rails redolent of those found in sports clubs from the middle of last century. Such lean, linear references are a signature of the Genoese design studio, which is named after the abbreviation for an economic planning committee of the former Soviet Union.
The ‘interior within an interior’ style of Il Salotto reminds us of Flexthetic retail spaces such as Dover Street Market in London and Precinct 5 in Amsterdam. For another example of the new fitness culture, read our Seed story on Nike’s women’s fitness club.