Giochi Preziosi’s first shop in Milan could only be a tribute to the city: the tram, La Scala and the underground
The red thread linking the whole project is the city it sits in: Milan. There are many cues and tributes that, through a playful reinterpretation, connect to the history and life of the city.
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The first flagship store in Giochi Preziosi’s history could only be in Piazza Duomo, Milan. 23bassi designs two floors as a tribute to the city: a Trudi tram driven by teddy bears at the entrance (with a driver’s-cab selfie area), a soft-toy rollercoaster that crosses the whole shop and, in the window, performs a loop-the-loop framing the Duomo, a soft-toy shelving unit shaped like the Teatro alla Scala, the Albini-designed handrail like the one on metro line 1, the Subbuteo corner rebuilding San Siro. The protagonist is the Crystal Ball staircase, covered in multicoloured hemispheres.
The location. The location Giochi Preziosi chose for the first flagship store in its history could only be Piazza Duomo, Milan. The shop is on two floors and has decidedly important windows on the ground floor, although the larger sales area is on the first floor.
The project. The red thread linking the whole project is the city it sits in: Milan. There are many cues and tributes that, through a playful reinterpretation, connect to the history and life of the city.
The tram. The first element, one of the most important, is the Trudi tram. At the shop’s entrance sits a scale tram, driven by teddy bears, which children can climb into to feel the thrill of driving a real tram! The driver’s cab becomes a real selfie area for visitors, separating the shop entrance from the soft-toy area, as you can see in this video, made inside the shop.
The soft-toy rollercoaster. Throughout the shop runs a real soft-toy rollercoaster, popping up everywhere. In one of the main windows on Piazza Duomo it develops into a loop-the-loop that, from inside the shop, frames the Milanese cathedral. Along the rollercoaster route are cars full of soft toys performing astonishing acrobatics.
The soft-toy staircase. One of the most important tributes is the Trudi staircase. The most important soft-toy shelf is like a real miniature Teatro alla Scala, where each box holds different soft toys. At the centre is a real stage with a copy of the main proscenium.
The underground references. Throughout the shop there are graphics that help guide the visitor, as if we were inside the Milanese underground network. But the metro reference does not stop there. The handrail of the staircase going up to the first floor is reproposed like the one designed by Albini for line 1, and all the shelves in the novelties area are clad in coloured tubes, like a dreamlike underground landscape.
The San Siro stadium. The Subbuteo and table-football area references the football arena par excellence: the San Siro stadium. The Subbuteo accessories display is like a corner of the famous stadium, complete with the red lattice towers of its roof.
The Crystal Ball staircase. Perhaps the shop’s finest showpiece is the staircase leading to the first floor. It is covered in multicoloured plastic hemispheres that look as if they were made with the famous Crystal Ball. From the first floor there are also portholes that let you look at the staircase from different angles and points of view. At the centre of the staircase, in line with the flight, is a video wall broadcasting brand-related content.
The shelving. All the bespoke shelving is made with a metal frame backlit by RGB LED bars. In this way entire areas of the shop can change colour according to the product on display.
The figures. Inside the shop there are figures at various points that reproduce toys at macro scale. As soon as you go up to the first floor there is a huge Gormito, while in the part for younger children there is a representation of Topo Gigio.
The shop. During the works, the shop’s original salt-and-pepper granite floor was found completely intact. It was therefore recovered, while all the new services were planned to be exposed. The tills are made of laminated and lacquered curved wood, with details that pick up the colours of the brand and of Milan’s metro lines.
