OFFICINE PANERAI FLAGSHIP STORE IN THE MIAMI DESIGN DISTRICT

OFFICINE PANERAI FLAGSHIP STORE IN THE MIAMI DESIGN DISTRICT

📅27 Giugno 2016, 16:33
TESTO ITALIANO

The boutique of the Italian quality sports watchmaker, created by the architect and designer Patricia Urquiola, is situated in the heart of the Miami Design District, an area of the city which has recently been transformed into an exclusive luxury shopping destination.

Patricia Urquiola Panerai boutique Miami Design District

The boutique extends over an area of 2,200 sqft  on two floors with two different entrances making this the largest Panerai point of sale in the United States to date. The flagship store is in the south-west corner of the Design  District’s Palm Court and it has seven windows, five on  the ground floor and two on the upper floor.

The boutique windows face onto the piazza of the Palm Court, which is easily recognized by the large glass sculpture shaped like a geodesic dome in the center of the courtyard.

The Panerai boutique in the Miami Design District is unique compared to other boutiques throughout the world, in terms of having an outer facade spanning two floors and in its furnishings and interior decoration. The interior design reflects a functional, simple idea of design, like that of the brand’s watches.

Patricia Urquiola Panerai boutique Miami Design District


Patricia Urquiola, the famous Spanish designer based in Italy, has reinterpreted the aesthetic and technical codes of the watchmaker, paying heed to its identity and timeless design. The designer has succeeded in respecting tradition with a look that is modern and current, finding an appropriate link between the past and the future.

For the new boutique the designer has used “calacatta luccicoso” veined marble, bronze and wood, materials which perfectly express the history of Officine Panerai: there are clear references both to its Florentine origins and to the universe of the sea, given the brand’s historic role in supplying precision instruments to the special forces of the Italian Navy between the 1930s and the 1950s.

One of the most distinctive elements of the boutique is the custom chandelier: a suspended series of disks, rings and lamps devised and designed by Patricia Urquiola, specially made and inspired by Panerai movements. The fixture hangs in the center of each floor of the boutique and has a metal and gold finish reminiscent of vintage nautical instruments.

The second floor has been deliberately designed as a private area for exclusive collectors and an exhibition space to host works by contemporary artists and designers as well. The boutique is sophisticated, contemporary, innovative and elegant and, at the same time, welcoming. With the new boutiques and reopenings designed by Urquiola, Officine Panerai now has 65 boutiques worldwide, 11 of which are in the United States.

Patricia Urquiola Panerai boutique Miami Design District

Angelo Bonati, Chief Executive Officer of Officine Panerai, says: “We are very proud of our new flagship store in North America in the Miami Design District, a setting which, through its association with design, suits us perfectly. For us the Americas are a fundamentally important market. Miami is an international center of art and design, and it represents a great opportunity in terms of exposure and increasing our international clientele.”

Patricia Urquiola adds: “Miami is special to me because it is part of my family. As my sister and her family have been living there for more then 30 years. I see a new Miami now, a Miami 3.0, with the same values as before but with more attention to quality and internalization. The Design District is one of the better examples of this process, bound to the world of art and design, also by physical vicinity. In the boutique we have introduced some new features like the tailor made chandelier that evockes the precision mechanisms of a watch. As well as the staircase linking the two levels. I hope that it will become a meeting point not only for Panerai lovers but as well a showcase for designers and artists that have the same attitude for research and quality.”

OFFICINE PANERAI

Founded in 1860 in Florence when it consisted of a boutique, a workshop and a watchmaking school, Officine Panerai was for years the supplier of precision instruments to the Italian Navy, in particular equipping the commando frogmen.

The projects which were created at that time, including the Luminor and Radiomir watches, continued to be covered by military secrecy for many years, until the purchase of the brand by the Richemont Group in 1997 and the brand’s subsequent launch on the international market.

Today, Officine Panerai develops and produces its own movements and watches –combining Italian design and history with Swiss craftsmanshi – in its manufacture at Neuchâtel, and these are sold worldwide through an exclusive global network of authorised dealers, and in its own-brand boutiques throughout the world.

by AN shopfitting magazine no.133 ©


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