claesson koivisto rune unveils UNIMATIC's milan flagship store

step inside the unimatic watch flagship store in milan

Tucked within Milan’s Via Meravigli street, the UNIMATIC Watches Flagship Store celebrated its grand opening in conjunction with this year’s Salone del Mobile. The monochrome and sleek interiors by Claesson Koivisto Rune Architects came to life after a mere 11 weeks, following a happy ‘run-into’ between Eero Koivisto and UNIMATIC founder Giovanni Moro in early February 2023. After discussing plans and viewing the space together, a friendly handshake sealed the deal, followed by a flurry of calls and drawing exchanges. ‘The plan is straightforward. One glass front with an entrance. One marble room. One small, black back-area,’ note the architects.

all images by Delfino Sisto Legnani | @dsl__studio (unless stated otherwise)

a white marble-clad interior by claesson koivisto rune

Perhaps the fastest-running commission of the studio’s career, the UNIMATIC Watches Flagship Store, although simple and minimal, exudes anything but a ‘rushed’ aesthetic. Every detail, every finishing, is the result of seeking the highest quality in a short timeframe. To realize that vision, Claesson Koivisto Rune reached out to a long-term acquaintance — the family-owned marble company Monitillo 1980 — for whom the studio had designed the ‘Iride’ (floor) and ‘Cava’ (walls) collections of round marble tiles. Natural, durable, and domestically produced white marble was ultimately settled upon to clad the store’s flooring and walls — a hallmark of Italian architecture.

Complementing the white marble-clad backdrop is an arched, silver-colored ceiling giving off a gentle metallic sheen and blackened-wood furnishings. Together, these elements create the color scheme of the UNIMATIC brand. Within that tasteful monochrome space, the watches take center stage. ‘The shop’s architecture is merely the stage, as a backdrop to enhance the watches. Three ingredients make the interior: Natural, quality materials, craft perfection, and the graphic ’roundel-effect’ of the floor and walls, as a subtle nod to watch dials,’ comments the studio.

using white marble, one of the hallmarks of Italian architecture

releasing the limited-edition unimatic ore watch

As part of the commission, Claesson Koivisto Rune developed a limited-edition watch collection for UNIMATIC, named Ore (Hours in Italian; Metalliferous earth in English) and released in the new flagship store during the 2023 Salone del Mobile. Selecting the iconic Modello Quattro, originally designed by Unimatic founders Giovanni Moro and Simone Nunziato, it was then stripped down in search of its core DNA.

‘There is a specific sense of mass inherent in the Modello Quattro. And we came to the conclusion that it this about the metal as much as the detailing. So, the watch was stripped (‘refined’, as we like to think about it) of all but the essential. And when there’s virtually nothing more but the bare metal left, we suggested only three variations: gold, bronze or stainless steel. Kind of hardcore, but not brutalistic. Rather, we find the result virgin, pure and poetic,’ share the architects.

UNIMATIC Flagship Store features a silver-toned and arched ceiling