Owner: Faber Italia
Interior design: Carmine Abate Architetto (with Vincenzo Genovese)
Construction and set-up: B-Project by F.lli Bozzelli
Management: Rosa Iavolato
Furnishings: Mojow, Seletti
Lighting: &tradition, Seletti, Faneurope/Inte
Floors: Seletti 4 Ceramica Bardelli, Corian
Photo credits: Carlo Oriente
To look, to try out, and above all to personalize. This is the experience in the new Faber boutique, for one of the leading European producers of capsule coffee machines. Recently opened in the city of Caserta on one of the main shopping thoroughfares, not far from the company’s production site, the store features the typical decorative touch of the designer Carmine Abate, with a taste for contaminations. The style of the venue, perfectly in tune with the brand, is a mash-up of references scattered in the three rooms, each with a specific function and connected in a fluid itinerary. Everywhere there is the desire to transmit the Italian quality of Faber, which is recognized on an international level: materials, manufacturing, the shaping of the parts and the assembly, all done ‘in-house.’ Abate has grasped the company’s maniacal attention to detail, conveyed through meticulously crafted settings.
The sales counter is made with sheets of Corian, with a frontal part in corrugated and polished steel of great visual impact, featuring a material utilized to make the machines. Over the top, a glass display case offers a view of all the parts of the machine (cap, knob, grille), which can be personalized in terms of colors, finishes and materials (steel, copper, brass). A second counter enables visitors to try out the machines, and of course to taste a great cup of espresso. Here the appeal is again based on a top in Corian, this time in black, and on an evocative structure in satin-finished silver laminate.
To bring out the character of the spaces, the architect has chosen the technological innovation and revolution of forms of Seletti 4 Ceramica Bardelli. A series of diamond-finish black tiles cover the columns containing the most important premium models; the red diamond-finished ceramic sets the tone of the ‘steps’ on which the machines of the second Faber line are placed, displayed in dozens of different colors. Also on the floor, Seletti 4 Ceramica Bardelli creates a 3D effect with a glossy finish, repeated and amplified in the mirror room, where the diamond-finish wall and ceiling create a sophisticated game of reflections.
The overall effect is one of great variety of materials and colors. Natural wood (black-stained oak), laminates, metals, mirrors, and the plastic of the eccentric Mojow inflatable sofa, positioned at a point of passage for comfortable tasting. Together with black and white, the walls offer a harmonious spectrum of beige, alongside the copper filler of the floor seams, the red of the ceramic tiles, the dark green of the suspension lamps. The latter are the Flowerpot models by Verner Panton for &tradition, with a Sixties look, which Abati places over the sales counter, in the vicinity of the casements.
The technical lighting design plays a decisive role to enhance the products, creating a welcoming atmosphere. For one more playful touch, there is also the ironic Grace Lamp designed by Uto Balmoral for Seletti: the head of a goddess winking as she blows a bubble. The venue in Caserta is the first of a series of openings, above all in Europe, that are part of an innovative project – the Faber Officina – which has the task of reinforcing and asserting the inspirational principles of the brand: modernization, research and development, avant-garde marketing, uncompromising high quality standards.
