Projects

Romeo Lounge Bar - Carpi (Modena)

Timeless good taste

CARPI (MO). A LOW-PROFILE APPROACH TO A SOPHISTICATED SPACE IDEAL FOR ANY OCCASION. A DESIGN LANGUAGE THAT GOES AGAINST THE PREVAILING TRENDS, INSPIRED BY GOOD DESIGN AND POST-RATIONALIST FORMS AND PROCEDURES.
Author
Carlo Paganelli
Surfaces
LEA
Year of completion
2007

To create sophisticated leisure spaces without resorting to the ostentation of the latest trends, it is preferable to rely on the more enduring appeal of elegance and good taste. This lounge bar in Carpi, a charming town in the province of Modena, combines essentiality and typically Italian style with an element of timelessness. It appears firmly rooted in the present, while the future offers no threat to its freshness and calm composition. The absence of a designer name seems to enhance its ironic mythology: “Those who don’t venture a name don’t deserve to know the author,” appears to be the adopted communication philosophy, an approach that underscores the importance of all the parties that contributed to the project, a kind of authorial equity that appears to be spreading to the sector of non-residential and non-private spaces in general. However, this sotto voce approach does not preclude the intervention of the soloist capable of firing the enthusiasm of the audience. Indeed, it is the audience that offers the warmest and most enthusiastic applause, dictating the success of the sophisticated musical score into which the floor surface is divided. The score displays various timbres, a segmentation of the gridwork of joints that dissolves into an abstract yet emotional symphony, icy yet evocative, episodic and rhapsodic. It offers a kind of stereophonic embrace that serves as a backdrop for social relations and conviviality. The space is composed of the plane surface of the floor and the three-dimensionality of the complementary furnishing elements. The oversized graphic symbols (such as the large parallelepiped-shaped “bathroom” sign) create a silent counterpoint with the histogram-like tables and chairs, as though to denote the high degree of interchange between patrons. The entire space displays a wealth of invention. The luminous grid of the wall is another element of musical counterpoint within a linguistic collage that brings together many variables without descending into cacophony. It is a multicentric space in which the search for a focal point, such as the central sofa, makes for an exemplary composition. As for the materials used, the meticulously designed Tecnoquartz porcelain tile collection from Lea Ceramiche combines full-body and double-pressing technology, for the first time bringing together the highest standards of use, aesthetics and design in a single product. The Tecnoquartz floor tile in particular underscores attention to detail and enhances the overall appearance. In the case of Romeo Lounge, each furnishing element emerges clearly from perfectly flat surfaces, generating microarchitectures in an ideal urban space where chairs, countertops and accessory elements create a kind of metropolis populated by giant figures, the inhabitants of a city with paradoxical dimensions but unique imaginative power.

Tiles
Lea Ceramiche, Tecnoquartz collection
Type
porcelain stoneware
Sizes
30x60
Colours
gneiss
Technical characteristics
Water absorpion (ISO 10545-3): <0,04%
Chemical resistance (ISO 10545-13): ULA - UHA
Resistance to deep abrasion (ISO 10545-6): < 145 mm3
Stain resistance (ISO 10545-14): compliant
Frost resistance (ISO 10545-12): compliant
Modulus of rupture and breaking strength (ISO 10545-4): >50 N/mm2
Slip resistance (DIN 51130): R10
Thermal shock resistance (ISO 10545-9): compliant
Certifications and awards
LEED
EMAS
ISO 14001
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