An elegant white-gloved hand fell under a translucent white screen and meticulously walked through the steps of crafting an alluring, ruby-red craft cocktail finished with a sugar-dusted fruit skewer. During last year’s Milan Design Week, studiopepe dazzled by one of the most memorable setup nights in town – a private club in a surprise location revealed by text.
Again, with a touch of mystery, the Milan-based creative consultancy and design agency founded in 2006 by Arianna Lelli Mami and Chiara di Pinto returned to Milan Design Week this year for its third project. Leaflet like a tarot card reading, “The Arcanists.” The Future Is Un/Written”, examines the connection between matter, archetypes and the power of symbols. Housed in a former gold processing factory from the beginning of the 20th century in Via Garofalo 24, the installation can be viewed by appointment and for private events until the end of May. With 4,300 square feet of space spanning a total of nine bedrooms, it’s a mystical sight to behold.
At the entrance to the facility, an illuminated neon sign reads “The Future is Unwritten”.
Photo: Giuseppe Dinnella / Courtesy of Studiopepe“’The Arcanists’ is the investigation of matter, and ‘matter’ has the same Latin root as ‘mother’,” Lelli Mami tells AD PRO. “This project explores the importance for a designer to deeply understand and respect the material – and the connection between it and its archetypes.” And just like a fortune teller, Studiopepe knows how to tell stories. Each of the artfully furnished rooms at Les Arcanistes is dedicated to a secret, to unfold an alluring story through bespoke, classic and contemporary furnishings from Studiopepe and brands the firm works with frequently. (Among them are pulpo, Idle, Areti Workshop, CC-Carpetand Tacchini.)
Inside the space, a wall of purple-tinted glass is draped with a neon sign that reads “The Warlocks.” A mustard-colored curtain marks the Magician’, the so-called catalyst of the experiment. Off this area is the Source, a water room, which contains a fountain of Mariotti Fulget. “La Source is the first room on the journey, because [in tarot card readings,] the water [represents] purification and the connection between the earth and the sky”, explains Di Pinto.