New York studio Snarkitecture has created an immersive installation with over 100,000 metres of translucent white fabric for fashion brand COS on the occasion of the 2015 Milan Design Week. Resembling the typology of a cave, thousands of individually cut ribbons hang in the site, creating both a single undulating mass and individually swaying strips. Creating a completely immersive environment, cavern draws on the familiar qualities of fabric and the primal nature of caverns to create a world of reflection, exploration and interaction.
By imagining a world that bends the reality of expectation, visitors of Salone del Mobile are invited to relax, interact and recharge among the chaos of the festival. Throughout the site, the relation between visitor and material changes based on proximity. The porosity of the material invites interaction within the ribbon structure, blurring the conception of a boundary.
Ribbons flow from being a singular object, to a tactile barrier, to invisible depending on the visitor’s movement. Inspired by the Spring/Summer 2015 COS Collection, the installation blurs the edges of defined forms creating complete opacity and transparency.
Visitors are immediately transitioned into the space by ascending the entry stairs through a threshold of low hanging ribbons that opens upon a shallow cavern. The existing site is divided into a series of spaces linked by low tunnels, forcing physical interaction with the ribbons. While wandering through the installation, one might find a small seating area surrounded by ribbons, or an embedded mirror that distorts the path of the ribbon journey. Due to the nature of the fabric, visitors are able to either walk along a designed path, or to wander into the infill. The main social space opens up allowing visitors sit and enjoy some refreshments or shop at the Snarkitecture for COS Shop lofted above. Beyond, a small reflection space is hidden among full length ribbons, where a visitor is confronted with the image of oneself in the ribbon cavern.
all images © NOAH KALINA