Leaving Las Vegas

Craig Kellogg -- Interior Design, 5/1/2009 12:00:00 AM

firm:giorgio borruso design
site: milan

As the face of Fornarina, the flirty Italian fashion label, Lindsay Lohan vamps it up in everything from distressed denim to oversize polka dots. Just as attention-grabbing is a futuristic, award-winning Las Vegas flagship completed by Giorgio Borruso Design in 2004—making the firm the obvious choice to sex up a former porcelain factory in Milan as the headquarters for parent company Fornari. The 35,000-square-foot interior, Giorgio Borruso says, demanded the "excitement and flexibility" to showcase not only Fornarina clothing but also a variety of lines for men, women, and teens.

Borruso unified the industrial architecture by giving the old floor slabs a new concrete skin, interrupted by shiny resin in key areas. Washable white paint, easily touched up, neutralizes the vast majority of other surfaces, from gypsum-board walls to MDF counters. His signature dynamic curves take the form of a voluptuous flying stair with tinted acrylic balustrades that introduce a subtle shade of blue he finds flattering and restful. Wall and ceiling inserts of stretched PVC are usually backlit by LEDs in a blue to match, but they're capable of cycling through a wide range of colors. For special events, possibilities range from Fornarina's own magenta to whatever else is fashionable.

From top: In the reception area at Fornari headquarters, a stainless-steel handrail appears to morph into a door pull. Stretched PVC in reception is backlit by color-changing LEDs set to blue most of the time. The stairway in the double-height atrium combines resin, painted gypsum-board, and custom-tinted acrylic.