Wallpaper 2

Heavenly staircasesExpanding tablesSee-through seating

Instagrammable bedsPulsating pinksWellness labs

Do-it-yourself sinksChocolate faucetsJumbo ribbing

Floating podsSupernatural sandwiches

We take flight and make our cut of the best in class

Design

Awards

2018

FEBRUARY 2018 *THE STUFF THAT REFINES YOU

hen it comes to staircase construction,

Dolce & Gabbana is seriously ahead of the curve. Two

superior spiral designs connect the six floors of the

Italian label’s recently renovated 2,350 sq m Old Bond

Street boutique in London. The first enclosing design

is crafted using an artisan inlay technique, which sees

Spanish Nero Marquina and Chinese Bianco Laser

marble slotted together with millimetre precision, like

a monochrome jigsaw puzzle. ‘We were really trying to

go one step further with the material,’ says the French

Tokyo-based interior designer Gwenaël Nicolas.

‘What’s interesting about this staircase’s design is

that it makes you feel like you’re travelling in an

elevator,’ adds Nicolas. ‘It wraps around you and the

store becomes invisible.’ Movement is integral to the

overall design of the space, which boasts all manner

of marble and granite, including Brazilian Copacabana,

Indian Black Lightning, Chinese Panda White and

Vietnamese Bianco Cristallino, with veins resembling

the rushing flow of water in a river or a stream of

molten lava. ‘The stones really propel you forward.’

The second staircase connects the top three floors

of the brand’s private salon space. It is constructed

from a monochrome patchwork of the marble and

granite found throughout the boutique. Each slab was

cut to create a mirroring effect, so that the staircase

W looks identical when viewed from above or below. ‘This

project allowed us to try out some amazing technology,

and to bring craftsmanship to life,’ says Nicolas. ‘Six

months ago I didn’t know these techniques existed.’

To do full photographic justice to this elevating

marble, we needed an architectural photographer from

the top drawer. And if they had a particular interest in

the most luxurious limestone, then all the better. With

perfect synchronicity, Hélène Binet, just about the

most in-demand photographer of beautiful buildings

in the world, has been shooting in Italian quarries,

fascinated by the accidental architecture created by

carefully cut stone blocks. ‘They are just so vast in scale,’

Binet says. ‘And when you get there, you enter these

cathedrals with floors and walls and ceilings.’

Binet shoots on a large-format film camera, mostly

in black and white. She often goes in close, creating

remarkable compositions of spaces and shadows and

textures. Her shots for us at the Dolce & Gabbana

boutique create dramatic swirls and slabs unfeasibly

stacked. Patterns miraculously repeat on one staircase,

while on the other, each marble block is a universe unto

itself, with strange clouds and constellations. ‘It was

fascinating to see this collection of different marbles,’

Binet says. ‘It’s really rare and beautifully done.’ ∂

dolcegabbana.com; curiosity.jp

ABOVE, HÉLÈNE BINET SHOT

THE STAIRCASES OF THE

REVAMPED DOLCE & GABBANA

LONDON STORE FOR THIS

MONTH’S NEWSSTAND COVER

TOP, THE STAIRS CONNECTING

THE STORE’S TOP FLOORS ARE

MADE OF A PATCHWORK OF

DIFFERENT STONES (INCLUDING

BLACK LIGHTNING; NORDIC

WHITE; COPACABANA; NERO

GRAND BAROQUE; AND PANDA

WHITE), DESIGNED TO LOOK

IDENTICAL WHEN VIEWED

FROM ABOVE OR BELOW

∑

W* Awards

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