We are proud to announce that Mantua is not so far from Shanghai from today.

We have found an invisible link from one of our world-known frescos of the “Camera Picta” in the oldest part of the Mantua city centre and the new Corneliani flagship store in Nanjing road, the main fashion street in Shanghai.

Corneliani, one of our most important business client, asked us to design its new Chinese flagship store in Shanghai and its external and internal facades, for one of the most famous luxury mall: the Citic Square.

For the interiors we followed the design and the materials of the Montenapoleone’s flagship store in Milan (designed and produced in 2010). But for the facade we felt that the italian brand should need a special sign that could express his identity as a Mantua-based fashion-man-brand and its values of  made-in-italy-quality and customer-made tailoring.

As usual, when we have to create something new, we invent (“invenire” in latin means “to find”) it from our background history. It was like our pencil went by itself, designing on a white sheet of paper one of the most recognizable decorative pattern of the Italian Renaissance: Mantegna created it for the wall of the Camera Picta’s frescos (that represents the Gonzaga family) and soon it became one of the favorite decorative pattern painted on the facades of the aristocratic building of the period.

Of course Mantegna painted a marble motif; we transformed this decoration in a micro-perforated metal back-lit with a special ring of warm-led lights that reflects on a marble surface, patterned like a chessboard on the back side. Reminds a marble facade of an Italian renaissance church and its own decorated bronze gate.

The effect is very sculptural, elegant but masculine; like Corneliani brands values.

You can see it by yourself, if you have a walk on Nanjing road, or see some picture  of the work on the new Poddaponti website: www.poddapontiarchitetti.it

Or you can read the whole story of the flagship on: www.corneliani.it