At Archiproducts Milano, forms and materials inspired by water

Aqua is a realm where tranquility and vitality come together. It is an immersive experience where water becomes an inspiring principle and design concept. Just as water is constantly changing, depending on the light and the vessel, Archiproducts Milano’s new spaces evoke the fluidity of life itself. Amid colors and transparencies, Aqua is a harmonious blend of form and function, where reflective surfaces and plays of light transform and renew environments—an exploration of interior design where the furnishings evoke forms and materials inspired by the aquatic element.

The Archiproducts Milano partnership with Explora Journeys

With the “water-inspired” Aqua experience, Archiproducts and Explora Journeys inaugurate a partnership that will enable the MSC Group’s new luxury lifestyle travel brand to meet the global Architecture and Design network’s community.

The Explora Journeys installation at Archiproducts Milano invites visitors onto the deck of a ship furnished with the Davos collection designed by Matteo Nunziati for Unopiù, partner of the MSC Group. Unopiù’s new outdoor furniture collection, previewed at Archiproducts Milano with the colors of the outdoor fabrics completely customized for Explora Journeys, will exclusively furnish EXPLORA II, the second of the six ships in the Explora Journeys fleet, whose maiden voyage is scheduled for 11 August 2024.

The immersive Explora Journeys experience continues inside, where visitors are welcomed into a space where curved shapes, soft materials and a color palette ranging from light shades of teal to lighter shades of electric blue metaphorically evoke the interior of one of Explora’s luxury cruise ships.

“We are proud to collaborate with a major brand like Explora Journeys,” said Enzo Maiorano, co-founder and creative director of Archiproducts. “We share the idea that design is an extraordinary enabler of experience and that traveling by sea in design spaces is an important added value in terms of comfort, well-being, and inspiration”.

Water as a color filter

Exploring the dynamic nature of water in an interior design project means imagining a visual and sensory journey that results from observing the physical qualities of this element. First and foremost, its role as a chromatic filter. Hence, Aqua’s experience in discovering the optical properties of water is a journey that takes the visitor through several depths, from a scenario illuminated by a green-blue light to another that gradually tends from violet to deep blue.

The materials and furnishings are coloured in a variety of shades, from cool white, softer aqua-green and light blue to intense ultramarine, bright electric blue and the darker hues of the deep sea.
The underwater world inspires the wall and ceiling colors. The sky blue, turquoise, teal and teal green to dark violet of Sikkens paints; the Alcantara upholstery, specially designed for the AQUA installation, in Infanta – a color inspired by the marine world, with blue and green tones that evoke the reflections and various nuances of water; the lighter shades of powder blue and aqua seawater of Paint Up decorative paints; from powder blue to deep blue of Theia Tiles; the light green of Harmony tiles; the white mosaic of Mosaic Factory; the gradient effect of gray to cobalt to the blue of Loloey carpet; the teal green of the De Dimora carpet; the vintage blue of Forbo‘s sustainable linoleum, which becomes dark purple in the meditation room; the light blue and dark purple of the Impact Acoustic panels; the aqua green of the Wall&Decò wallpaper; the electric blue and deep purple of the Modulys carpet; and the teal green of the Élitis fabrics.

The furnishings are also part of this unique immersive experience: from the softer blues of the Actiu sofa and the Gart outdoor armchairs to the green of the Softicated stools and Baleri chairs, from the teal of the Natuzzi armchair to the intense blue of the Desalto table designed by Francesco Rota, the Red Edition alcantara sofa, the Morica sideboard, the Trabà outdoor furniture and the Parla armchairs.

However, the vibration of water with light also creates color peaks outside the green and blue scale, with pops of different shades such as pink or yellow. The colors suggested by Aqua range from yellow to peachy pink in the Famarella ceramic tiles, the Casamance curtains, the mauve of the Sancal furniture designed by Raw Color and Studiopepe, the peach of the Azzurra washbasin and sanitaryware by Diego Grandi, the pink of the Tubes thermo-refractor by Astori De Ponti Associati and the yellow of the Ton stools.

Light and transparency

The idea behind the Aqua interior design project revolves around the choice of lighting and materials that refer in different ways to the effects of light on water, between reflections and transparencies.

Hence the use of translucent and reflective surfaces like metal, glass, ceramics and mirrors. These include sculptural reflective furniture by award-winning New York architect Caroline Chao; metal cladding and textured Materica paints; aluminum chains by Kriskadecor that capture light and show it in all its forms; frosted glass cladding with coloured accents by Antique Mirror; the metallic effect of 3M films; the Neuvermoebelt steel kitchen.

Light is a central theme in a space inspired by water. Firstly, in terms of the technology used to create effects and reflections on the wall or ceiling, such as the Waw collection of kinetic wall luminaires, which project fluctuating flashes of light onto the ceiling, evoking the movement of water.
Light and transparency are perfectly expressed in the Davide Groppi Magia pendant, where the light source is completely concealed.
The table lamps in acrylic or polished steel by the Vietnamese brand BẰNG are inspired by the idea of “something floating in something“, like spheres floating in layers, creating multiple reflections in motion.

The materials theme also focuses on light. At Archiproducts Milano, metal and transparent surfaces are the leitmotif of the luminaires: the Icone floor lamp in metal and plastic designed by Giulio Cappellini and Leonardo Talarico; the Lodes blown glass spheres designed by Snøhetta and Luca Nichetto; the Terzani pendant luminaires in the shape of water droplets, inspired by the refractions created by water.

Water-inspired forms

At Archiproducts Milano, the inspiration of water is also evident in the forms. First of all, the nautical reference, with the portholes that welcome visitors to the Explora Journeys installation in the outdoor area of Via Tortona, which, inside, become windows to underwater worlds and cruising landscapes.

The fluid and organic shapes of some of the furniture and upholstery, which visually evoke the ocean waves, such as the sculptural counter at the entrance, covered with a Materica metal ‘skin’, also refer to the movement of water; the De Sede sofa designed by Ubald Klug, which is made up of overlapping elements reminiscent of waves of sand on the seabed; the upholstered wave-covered bar and the Alcantara pleated wall covering; the three-dimensional boiserie by Noël & Marquet; and the organically shaped Dovain Studio furniture designed by Sergio Prieto.

Technology and Smart Home

At Archiproducts Milano, IOT and smart technologies are at home, easy to use and perfectly integrated into the environment.
In the BTicino Smart Apartment, you can directly experience a smart home where technology adds value to everyday life. How? By being able to comfortably and easily control video entry, lighting, sockets, automation, temperature and security via app or voice.
Efficiency is also in the air conditioning, audio-video systems, and Samsung‘s smart appliances, which enable users to inhabit the space intelligently.

Discover all the products of “Aqua. A design exploration”!

Archiproducts Milano 2024
“Aqua. A design exploration” curated by Studiopepe
Milano, Via Tortona 31
Press Preview 15 April, 14:00 – 18:00
16 April, 10:00 – 18:00
17 – 21 April, 10:00 – 20:00

Main Partner
Explora Journeys

Furniture
Actiu, Azzurra, Baleri Italia, Caroline Chao, Cropelli, Desalto, De Sede, Dovain Studio, Faema, LaCimbali, Morica, Natuzzi, Neuvermoebelt, Parla, Red Edition, Sancal, Softicated, Ton

Outdoor
Gart, Hulasol, TrabA’, Unopiù

Lighting
BẰNG, Davide Groppi, Icone, Jaune Fabrique, Lodes, Luminaire Authentik, Terzani, WAW COLLECTION

Finishes, Materials & Architecture
3M, Antique Mirror, De Dimora, dooor, Eku Sistemi, Famarella, Forbo, Harmony, Impact Acoustic, Kriskadecor, Loloey, Materica, Modulyss, Noël & Marquet, Paint Up, Scirocco H, Sikkens, The Mosaic Factory, Theia Tiles, Tubes

Decor
Fornice Objects, Frantoio Muraglia, Once Milano, Uniqka, Vesta Furniture

Textiles & Wallpaper
Alcantara, Casamance, Élitis, Wall&Decò

Tech
BTicino, Culligan Italiana, Samsung Audio Video, Samsung Climate Solutions, Samsung Home Appliances

Drink
Campari Soda

E-Mobility
Urban Native

Beauty & Fragrance
L’Artisan Parfumeur, Miamo

Media
Arc, Darc

Technical
Bistrot, In2Real, Liuni, Loqi, Roberta Studio, SchriftArt, Tende Bruscoli