Wonderful Italy
Headquarter - Milan
The new headquarters of Wonderful Italy, the first all-Italian network dedicated to people who wish to visit the country and enjoy a complete and original tourist experience, were designed during lockdown and are located in Milan’s Navigli district.
While smart working completely revolutionized the idea of the workspace, Atelier Biagetti designed Wonderful Italy a place full of references and suggestions, intended to allow people to be together and carry out their work in a space where they can feel like they are traveling towards the most desirable destinations.
The building is spread over three floors within a courtyard in the traditional canal district, and each level is like a story in which different elements are mixed but all united by a very Italian aura created through the use of soft colours and surreal elements, apparitions that follow one another along a sort of path between earth, sky and sea.
The landscape evoked is far from the idea of stereotypical Italian pop culture made of pizza and spaghetti, but very close to those Fellinian atmospheres of a miniature model Italy that finds its own fabulous identity in the images of Italian photographers such as Luigi Ghirri or Guido Guidi.
The project by Atelier Biagetti is a metaphor of a mysterious and romantic Italy, made up of infinite shades and intertwining landscapes
Upon entering, you immediately find yourself in an old style beach resort, complete with red and white striped lockers, a golden swing, and a sand-coloured floor; continuing, a large room hosts tables in different shades of green with transparent dividers that light up, a reference to the snow-covered peaks of the Alps.
The effect is almost that of an aerial view, where the pine forests meet the sea with all the colours and the nuances of an Italian landscape.
Going up, the greens mix with shades of blue and the room fragrances on the stairs evoke the idea of going up to a high place, where the air is thin. The first floor is the sky, there are portholes on the walls like those of an aeroplane, and, thanks also to the large window, the space is left free.
Going down to the lower floors you literally immerse yourself in an underwater space, completely soundproofed and conceived as a sort of labyrinth containing a series of adjoining small rooms dedicated to video calls. In the corridor there is a blue and white lifebuoy, the deep blue carpeted floors recall the abysses, and depth measurements are indicated on the walls at every corner, just like in a swimming pool or submarine.
Space is used as a tool for finding a new work-life balance, between the idea of travel and the feeling of rebirth