Conservatore - A vinyl record shop (London, UK), 2018.

Following the return on the scene of the vinyl after years of decade, a new type of costumers raised and so also the traditional vinyl record store need to be retouched in order to stay competitive in nowadays environment.

For this reason, a key aspect is the versatility of the space, to ensure a proper response to different needs in terms of displaying and use during the whole day, featuring now also the possibility of hosting an event occasionally to feature some artists or to promote a new release and to engage with costumers.

Starting looking around in the houses, I found interesting the fact that vinyls are usually kept inside a dedicate cabinet, treated like relics, more than mere music carriers. Precious Objects, emblems of a status symbol that caught you once in the store as much that you wanted to bring home with you for a longer lasting tale.

Thousands Cabinets and furnitures have been designed, dedicate and thought for vinyls at different scales. With an eye on the versatility and functionality of the shop, the vinyls’ cabinets are in the proposal the main characters of the space, taking the dimension of architectural features on the wall and of free standing movable totems that give a sense of hiding and protection while displaying and featuring the product when open and that can be closed ensuring protection when the space needs to get ready for a bigger affluence.This sense of protection is empowered by a "cozy" inside, where the plain crock is used both as a vertical displayer for highlights and horizontally for where the typical action of searching through piles of vinyls still take place. On the outside, the hiding game is led by a mirrored surface which abstracts a sense of rhythm and pay homage to the 45" and 33" dimensions that made the history. Also the floor pays an homage to the return of the vinyl, contributing too on making the whole interior even more enigmatic: following the tradition of the Venetian terrazzo floor, which was made of leftovers of marble and used to amplify the light inside tight but deep palaces, here it incorporates pieces of CDs in a clear resin with a black backdrop. It would be a metaphor of how CDs, even if odd now, represented an important moment in history that deserve to be kept in mind. Metaphorically torn apart by vinyls, they follow square trend that remember the covers of the vinyls and they go on amplifying the protecting enigmaticity of the whole interior.

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Tutored by Elly Ward and Kevin Haley.

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