Amber&Art
The Russian brand of jewellery and objects, Amber&Art, opens its first flagship store in Saint Petersburg.
The boutique – developed by Milanese Studio Piuarch – is located in the city center, inside the famous Antonov’s Merchant House built in 1824 by architect Domenico Adamini.
Overlooking the riverside at 1 Moika Embankment, a few steps from the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood, Amber&Art is set to be a landmark for the jewellery and the artistic objects of the worked amber.
Piuarch designed a fluid space in which to lose the line between the art gallery and the jewellery, where Amber is expressed at its best: as a jewel, as an object and as an aesthetic atmosphere.
The different rooms display amber objects and jewels in different typologies and working techniques, giving back the sum of stories gone through the more simple production to the more precious ones.
In the central hall are gathered all the typologies of products that are then found in each rooms with a thematic explanation: the wide semi-circular room is characterize by a coffered wooden countertop with a diamond design that is reflected in the geometry of the London Grey and the Black Stripped Olympic marble floor.
Brass islands - with different heights - are used as free standing stands while on the walls - finished with raw concrete – the products are arranged hanging on little hooks that emerge from moiré silk panels.
The hallway has been designed as a real exhibition art gallery characterized by cross vaults recovered by the original building; the glass cases exhibit amber objects laid down on Black Stripped Olympic marble pedestals.
Two rooms with barrel vaults overlook the hallway characterized by a more contemporary style. The flooring in natural oak staves opens a material dialogue with the vaults and walls which are treated in hand stuccoed concrete.
The jewel collections are exhibited on blue metal panels, reflecting on a glasses system with tilted cuts that gives back to the visitor a sense of involvement and wonder.
In the VIP room the atmosphere is more gathered, characterize by black and royal blue velvet walls. Hand made chandeliers, checkboard cut marble floor and a hidden bar completes the visit experience in a room that directly overlook the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood
The linguistic coherence among the different rooms has been obtained trough the choice of a limited number of noble materials like brass, silk and velvet textiles and two types of marble: London Grey and Black Stripped Olympic.
The lighting design uses luminaries that act both directly and indirectly, summing with the natural light to favour the best visit experience both during the day and during the night.
