Sustainability permeates retail

With two HQs – one in Milan and one in Shanghai – architectural firm Vudafieri Saverino Partners is one of the major international designers of spaces dedicated to selling goods. We analyzed the evolution in retail over the past decade with owners Tiziano Vudafieri and Claudio Saverino.How has the retail project changed in recent years?Standardization is not requested as often. The crisis of 2008 led to a fracture that questioned previous lifestyles and caused two types of crisis - one social and cultural and the other political and economical - which annulled the organization model created between the Eighties and the Twenty-hundreds for high-end brands that wanted similar outlets everywhere.If on the one hand “possessions” and “appearances” guided life choices for years, where ostentation prevailed over truth and excess eclipsed ethics, on the other hand dramatic changes, uncertainty about the future and the fear of an unstable society were clearly the reasons for a downturn in sales. This led to considerations about products and also about spaces and the ways of selling.We still sell an idea, a dream, but in recent years this has been done differently: now brands ask us for fewer outlets but each with a distinctive characteristic or specialty.The project centers on customer experience and hospitality at the outlet with special attention to establishing a more genuine and sustainable lifestyle oriented toward promoting attitudes that are attentive to the needs of the community and more knowledgeable consumption.What are the latest trends in outlet interiors?It’s difficult to talk about general trends; our job is to let customers experience the brand through the design of the outlet, so all our projects are unique and brand specific and shouldn’t really be influenced by external trends. In fashion, in particular, our work is like that of a storyteller and the start of this narrative approach is essential, so we use our design and architectural equipment to tell a story. This is what fashion has taught us.If we look at the macro-themes, on the one side we see the trend is marble + minimalism + Sixties; on the other side, the latest version of the “home-feeling” trend is an historical reference to the interior design of the Fifties.Eco-sustainability is very important also in outlet design: how is it incorporated in your projects?The “healthy” element that very much improves the sustainability of projects, compared to fifteen years ago, is that budgets have been considerably cut. This has led to a healthy slimming down from all points of view, with the consequent reduction in the consumption of hydrocarbons. Additionally, the element that visibly and immediately decreases energy consumption at outlets is, without a doubt, the advent of LED lighting.As to our work as architects and designers in particular, we place considerable importance on the expressive value of materials and how they can be used in a way that is consistent with the project and its symbolic, aesthetic and sensory values. We are always sourcing expressively new materials so it is inevitable that our attention is directed toward the environmental sustainability theme: industrial research focuses on the invention of new products and our design research focuses on experimenting with new expressive potential.What role does lighting play in the interior retail space?It is fundamental and as important as design. In our projects, the lighting design concept is a project in itself; lighting that is right for one brand may not work for another. Projects are developed with a very high level of detail which of course takes into consideration product exposure. But equally important, for example, is the lighting on customers when they are trying on a garment, an accessory, a pair of eyeglasses.