Continuous Interior | OMA-卓美

Agostino Osio. Courtesy of OMA

For the Prada Men’s and Women’s Fall/Winter 2017 show, AMO stages the bare simplicity of everyday life.
In the current moment – when issues of simplicity and essentiality are becoming increasingly relevant – AMO and PRADA felt the need to go back to basics, to abandon the construction of hyper-realistic and fully immersive sets in favor of a modest and domestic design, in which the experience of the audience is triggered more by the relationship with the physical space than by visual impact. They also advocate a return to reality and to the possibility of an intimate, unmediated experience between audience and fashion.
A continuous wooden partition divides the space into a series of consecutive sceneries. This ideal boiserie traces sinuously along the perimeter of the rooms giving an intimate scale to the set. The sense of domesticity is amplified by the combination of the wood with ordinary materials: terrazzo, tiles and formica. Together, with the use of beds and benches, they define a rhythm for the overall composition.

Alberto Moncada. Courtesy of OMA

The audience is accommodated along the seating structure. The layout provides each guest with a unique perspective that manifests once one is immersed into the space. The partitions, with their limited height, act as a screen between the different rooms, providing an individual perspective to each observer, while still allowing views of the models behind the boiserie. All the guests share the same personal yet collective experience.
The sharp contrast between the meticulous sequence of scenes with the roughness of the existing venue expresses a sense of bold essentiality.
For the Prada Women’s Fall/Winter 2017 show, AMO questions and looks at the role that women have in shaping modern society, their political participation and social achievements. In the current moment – one where we are confronted with several cultural uncertainties – it is hard to think that any form of creative production will be exiled from taking a position in favor of the liberal values we share. The scenography identifies the intangible centrality of the contemporary female role both at the domestic and public scale.

Agostino Osio. Courtesy of OMA

The set is organized concentrically: while the center maintains an intimate scale, the perimeter is conceived as an abstract exterior. A continuous wooden partition divides the space into a series of consecutive sceneries. This ideal boiserie traces sinuously along the perimeter of the rooms giving an intimate / controlled scale to the set. The sense of domesticity is amplified by the presence of beds, benches and ordinary lamps spread throughout the room defining the rhythm for the overall composition. Beyond the boiserie, the existing wall is invaded by a series of posters that simulate an urban front.