Cappellini - Passage to India

Launch of Cappellini’s flagship store Mumbai, INDIA.

Propose a new identity for future Cappellini Mumbai Showroom, with a system that will serve the purpose of introducing the Cappellini brand to its Indian customers in an Indianized way, while maintaining its Italian legacy.

"Successful person who has money and style. Lives in a metropolitan city and is aware of Brands and fashion trends. Likes to socialize and his house represents his own style. Has a unique taste in objects and projects that stand out. Is experimental and has a more fashionable taste than classic styles. Socially responsible individual that cares for environment and appreciates good quality and hand made exclusive products."

Chinese food served as a Buffet in one of the Chinese shops in London. Adaption of food in various cultures and countries can explain clearly the definition of Glocal trend. Cappellini is not new to this trend as it has always adapted its showrooms to the country it has reached. In Singapore with the chinese blue box, New York with Red Box, Australia with color of beach and sun, yellow and grey.

SOURCE: The change in the socio-economic system. User, etnography and user centred design. Marzia Mortati, Massimo Bianchini | Milano | Presentation in Scola Politeca on 3rd February 2008

Continuing the tradition of using shipping containers to house all things pop-up, a spotting from the Netherlands caught our eye. At the Lowlands music festival, jeans brand Wrangler offered festival-goers a much-needed service: laundry. At 18 meters wide and 9 meters high, the Wrangler Laundromat was hard to miss. People dropped off their mud-encrusted laundry and were sent a text message the moment it was ready. No change of clothes? Wrangler came up with a generous solution to that problem, too: they handed out black overalls to anyone who used the laundromat. Wrangler delighted consumers in a way that magazine ads or TV spots usually can't.

SOURCE: www.trendwatching.com/trends/8trends2008.htm

We have seen the gradual transformation from a product economy, to a product service economy and now we currently see the consumers moving toward an experience economy. The products they buy not only should it satisfy their need functionally but also provide an experience that the consumer remember and cherishes. This trend is strongly visible in the retail sector, where retail spaces offer certain unique and unforgettable experience to it users/customers that add value to the products or services showcased inside it. An ideal example is of the beer brand Heineken, which organizes Heineken Jammin’ festival. The key idea is to penetrate the youth culture (since for Heineken that is it target consumers) & associate the brand to certain experiences in which the target group indulges in, example music, dance, etc.

SOURCE: The change ... design. Marzia Mortati, Massimo Bianchini | Presentation in Scola Politeca 03/02/08

PROJECT IDEA

Cappellini Flagship Store at Mumbai, India, will be the first store of Italian Furniture design that will be a gateway to the Italian design culture through the tunnel of Indian traditional living spaces.

The spirit of the cappellni collection is noise & color, they are in harmony because the noise is created by heterogeneous products that are in harmony with each other.

This spirit is the same as the spirit of Mumbai. Mumbai, a city with so many colors and moods.

The knowledge of Italian furniture design, the craftsmanship of products, details and comfort that came after years of design innovation has sadly not reached India the way it is understood in Italy and other countries with much more active design culture. Therefore not only for the goodwill of the brand but also to educate people about how these products are made, who designed them and who created should also be understood in India.

Design students, young designers and individuals will get a first hand information about the production knowledge, the videos, stories of designers, all will be accessible to interested individuals. Some products are placed with sensors and with attached video feed on small screen with sound that goes on every time someone uses the products. The books, magazine, catalogues all are spread around the showroom unlike a typical library. One can This will also let people relax in the furniture they are using as well as feel related to the brand. A very simple way to break the awkward of a foreign brand.

A web based community that can be accessed not only from your personal computer but also by the touch screens available at the store. The sensors that are placed with furniture in the store will not only be for video feed, but also will be detecting people using the furniture. The CTC cameras at the store will take snapshots and upload to the Cappellini Community section at the touch screens. The user has the possibility to select and save his pictures to his user account. The rest of the pictures will be deleted in the end of the day. This will allow user to see and decide which furniture he or she likes.

Cappellini Community, CAP UNITY, website one can read what the designer have to say about their products. One can give comments about Cappellini Designs. View what the members are sharing with each other and talk to Cappellini, designers and other members directly.

The flavor of Italy is not only in the design books and learning by personal individual experience. There is also a need of taste and flavor of Italian food and drinks. This will offer a meeting place for design interested individuals and clients to sit and discuss with some true taste of Italy.

The appretivo, wine, cheese and coffee will bring together people for social interaction. This will give the brand a new way to build experiences with the customers.

The outdoor space on the 1st floor of the showroom is a perfect place to let free and interact with others over a cup of coffee or glass of fine wine, together with some finger food during happy hours.

The touch screens also allow another function than Cappellini Unity, that is to help a person select his favorite furniture from the list of furniture and create a virtual vision of the room or rooms. Already set moods created by Cappellini designs and Indian interior designs help a person also to select the furniture of a similar mood.

The moods also can be found on website. In case a person has already chosen a piece of furniture and wishes to know what will go with it, the preset moods can be helpful in decision making.

View of backwall/spine of store as viewed from outside. An example of Indian inspired interior space interpreted by a designer. Cappellini bed room in Indian paisley and miniature painting.

In the above two renders, the reading areas and the product display. The product display has been created with yellow orange acrylic with India vases inclosed as icons of Indian decoration objects.

The view from outside of the bar area. Bamboo structure support the creepers creating a light and shade effect. Cappellini going green, baby steps towards a eco showroom.