Spazio Armani: a monumental tribute to style

There's the clothing, the perfumes, accessories, furniture and the home decorating articles. Then there are the books, the flowers and oh, yeah, the restaurants. Then there's also the new, ultramodern Sony store--the biggest in Italy! Where are you?
It's all at the spanking new Spazio Armani at Manzoni 31 in Milano.
It's a full 6000 sq. meters in the historic old town center of Milano spread out over three floors, the result of a ca. 45 billion project intended to delight and astound.

The large department store/mini-mall evidences the Armani commitment to maintain style throughout the project, which clearly carries the Armani touch.
As the designer himself says, "style is the only luxury everyone can posses, and with very little money at that!"

The newest reference point in Italy's fashion city, the Spazio Armani is a plane of light distributed over a series of communicating halls planned inch by inch by Giorgio Armani himself, with the help of architectural studio Gabellini.
The project was a long time coming, a dream harbored by the designer for many years, realized to coincide with Armani's 25th year in the industry. The structure itself reflects its purpose: open and open for anything.
Each of the majestic palazzo's four sides is outfitted with its own entrance, and the eye-catching effect is done by the clever and harmonious contrast of materials of varying hues and consistency. Nothing was left to chance and everything is completely functional. In Armani's world, travelers pass seamlessly from household accessories to the Emporio and Jeans lines, from Sony to the Japanese restaurant Nobu, and finally to the book and flower corner. Making a bit splash is Armani Casa, the newly-hatched furniture and decor line which are presently sold exclusively in the structure's 900 square meter loft space. The subterranean floor has been extensively hollowed out to make room for the biggest Sony store in Italy.
Spazio's two restaurants reflect Armani's well-defined and unique taste, which veers strongly toward the Oriental, yet is firmly attached to his roots: the first is named after its legendary Japanese chef Nobu.

The entrance on Via Pisoni opens onto a bar-lounge and stairs leading to the 90-place dining room; the Emporio Armani Caffè on the first floor (Via Croce Rossa entrance) is in its final phases, is a classic Italian restaurant where pasta is king. The cross-shaped plan of the complex is intentionally reminiscent of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele (a famous street near the Duomo), and provides a large pedestrian area where young Italian artists are invited to show their work.
The look is made up of varied elements, but the total picture remains essentially Armani: floors are an elegant composition of beige quartz and light gray stone, counters and other surfaces are opaque as well as translucent, embossed and imprinted, huge LED rival those in New York's Times Square, external light is filtered through Plexiglas panels, the lighting geared to accentuate and flatter the various displays...an impressive array of technological solutions.

Armani has an eye cast on the not yet acquired upper floor, with an idea for a new project: the designer is thinking of installing a designer's dream of a luxury hotel, still in high-style, always Armani.