Armani Silos - Milano, Italy
The way Giorgio Armani remembers the past
Space Archive Project no.11 Oct 10. 2023
Introduction
Giorgio Armani opened their first museum in Milan to showcase their 40 years of journey in fashion and named it Armani/Silos. The building was originally a Nestlé headquarters and was used as food storage. The word Silos comes from this story behind. The cloth is as important as food for Armani, and the building is for storing his clothes. Based on this thought, Silos represents the identity of the building uniquely.
Tadao Ando, a famous Japanese Architect, designed the overall building. Armani and Ando’s philosophy toward creation resembles each other and led to the stunning collaboration. They both focus on the essentials and eliminate the unnecessary things to approach towards the core, and those values can be found throughout the space.
The building is mainly used for archiving what Armani has created and what they will create in the future. In addition to that, there is a special exhibition space on the first floor. Plus, a cafe, a little garden, and a gift shop exist to offer even more memorable experiences to the guests.
Lobby _ Welcome with brightness
The entrance can be found after walking several steps along the tall white concrete exterior of the building. It is a bit hidden behind the trees, and a little sign of Armani/Silos will indicate that you’ve arrived. When you enter the building, a person who wears a black Armani jacket will welcome you to the lobby area.
My first impression of the lobby was very calm and simultaneously refreshing. The large glass windows and luminous panels that fully cover the right wall brighten up the space. Subtle line detail on the luminous panels brings a modern and elegant vibe. Likewise, even at the entrance, Armani fully fuses their design identity into an architectural form and welcomes guests in their own way.
Courtyard _ Aesthetic of Emptiness
After the lobby, the magnificent size of the empty courtyard pops out. The entire wall is made out of dark gray concrete and continues all the way toward the 4th floor. Because of the characteristics of concrete and its size, the whole space has the power to prevail over people. And, the whole structure felt like well-finished pottery because of the concrete texture and seamless details. The emptiness and minimal decorations even make the space feel surreal and spiritual.
On each floor, they created rectangular voids to view the courtyard. This void acts as a great viewing spot from various perspectives, but at the same time, connects with other areas and brings an airy feeling into the court by expanding the space.
Stairs _ Ensemble of Light and Concrete
To connect spaces on different levels, the stair is one of the important components in the architecture. The stairs in Armani/Silos functionally act well, but even further they designed stairways to bring spiritual feeling through the dramatic use of light and structure. The central staircase is able to be accessed near the courtyard. Once you go up several steps, stairs are divided into two ways, and continue in each direction symmetrically. The longer length of the stairs and the light coming from the high ceiling created a surreal atmosphere.
Exhibition Space _ Elimination for Essence
The way they display their clothes in the exhibition area resembles their clothes. They minimize the decorative elements and use different lighting effects or wall materials to differentiate depending on the concept of each room. Additionally, they used headless wire-framed mannequins as a supporting structure for showing the clothes. Therefore, the clothes are emphasized, and details on the inside are able to be seen.
Conclusion
Fashion is one of trend sensitive industries. When a new trend emerges, usually the previous trend goes away. Lots of brands decline when they lose the streams of trend. So, surviving for multiple generations in fashion is quite challenging, but Armani did it. Beyond surviving, they led the trend, and they kept expanding their brand until now. And Armani/Silos is a meaningful building that shows all of their remarkable footsteps. The clothes in the exhibition contain stories from each era but at the same time, it shows the journey of how to keep pursuing what they believe in clothes.
Overall, it is a great space to learn two masters’ thoughts in one place. Armani and Ando both focus on being themselves and tell the importance of it to us through space. Such a perfect harmonization of fashion and architecture.