Entering the Rimessa dei Fiori in Brera during Milan Design Week was an extraordinary experience.

The scent of flowers, the colours, the innovative design of the products, a unique space made of veils and transparencies where the observer's gaze was guided between works of art and design.

The technical textile i-Mesh hides and reveals at the same time, creating theatrical backdrops with a domestic flavour.

Walter Knoll with the team of Ippolito Fleitz created a unique installation at Rimessa dei Fiori, a former industrial production site in the heart of Brera, showcasing an immersive object by American artist Janet Echelman as well as a poetic flower setting by florist Irene Cuzzaniti.

The team of Ippolito Fleitz, a multidisciplinary design studio based in Stuttgart, Berlin and Shanghai, developing identities in the fields of architecture, product design and communications. Their goal is to create moments, in which new ideas metamorphose into a multidimensional design as part of a discontinuous process. 

Here follows the interview that Tilla Goldberg , Director Product Design at Ippolito Fleitz Group, designer of Walter Knoll stands, kindly granted us:

What was the general idea of the space?

“Our brand space is located in a special building in the heart of Milan: In the narrow alleys of the Brera design district stands the Rimessa dei Fiori, a former flower warehouse. The floor and walls retain the original, lived-in concrete with visible and tangible traces of former use – even the words “vietato fumare” are still visible on the wall. The space is peeling and flaking, just waiting for yet more layers, for transformation. Our brand space adds layer upon layer. The brand logo and lettering are merely projected onto the walls, because it’s not about adding a fresh coat of paint, but about the subtle poetry of layered structures.”

How was it to use i-Mesh? What objectives did you want to achieve?

“We employ the specially designed, robot-rendered i-Mesh curtains to underscore the ephemeral effect of the space. We show them here in white for the first time. They were perfectly suited for creating various abstract spatial contexts for the furniture by our client Walter Knoll.”

‍