Nanimarquina: Against Apathy

Nanimarquina's Universe: An Immersive Experience

Nanimarquina is a brand that strongly stands by its principles of conscious luxury and imperfect beauty, reflecting its commitment to honesty, care, and simplicity. To bring its space at the 2024 Salone del Mobile to life, we incorporated these concepts into the design phase to create an immersive and sustainable experience.

The main feature of the space is an impressive 100-square-meter rug that is suspended from the ceiling and drapes down to the corners of the stand. The piece is divided in half, with each side rolling in opposite directions, creating a transitional opening between them. The positioning of the piece generates unexpected views and framings of what, in reality, is an entirely open space. It also serves as the focal point of the stand, making it easily recognizable from a distance.

The surrounding walls and floors, made of coloured MDF, act as a blank canvas to showcase the brand's newest collections and provide a welcoming environment for the customer, enveloping them in Nanimarquina's world.

A Cost-Effective Approach

With its new claim, 'Against Apathy,' the brand distances itself from an attitude of indifference or detachment. In a time of escalating climate tension, Nanimarquina chooses to listen, comprehend, and take action.

The project is centred around a circular economy approach, aiming to optimise limited resources and use as few materials as possible. As it's often challenging to maintain sustainable practices in ephemeral design, we made it a priority to minimise waste.

Using the hanging rug as the main piece allowed us to address these challenges. We intentionally designed it to be reusable, cut into smaller pieces, and commercialised as part of the collection after the fair. Instead of being discarded, it gets a second life.

In addition to this piece, we only included the necessary walls to confine the space and the floors. Constructed from MDF, it's a practical choice as the material is 100% natural and recyclable.

A Process of Constant Change

The design process is the same in ephemeral spaces as in permanent spaces. Our challenges remain constant. From our perspective, continuous transformation, exploration, and trial and error are the basis of it all.

The concept for Nanimarquina's booth went through several explorations before settling on the final layout. The process was very hands-on, with physical models playing a crucial role in defining the nature of the hanging rug. It had to balance an aesthetic role with a sustainable approach, and the models helped us decide on the best shape for the user experience we wanted to create and allowed us to explore different imaginary scenarios, even though some were not feasible to bring to life.

We also recognized that we could make custom furniture pieces for Nanimarquina to use at the fair during this process. Our main focus was on using MDF, the same recyclable material that the project already utilized.