Roca takes the Mediterranean to Milan

Roca took the Mediterranean to Milan with Influence, a large-scale architectural installation designed by Barcelona based Cobalto Studio. The installation explored the vernacular architecture of the Mediterranean, honouring its idiosyncrasies and exploring its relationship with contemporary artistic practices. Cobalto’s approach to design emphasises the importance of this culture and heritage in all their works, and Influence is no exception.

“Roca’s first appearance at Salone marks a strategic milestone in the company’s long history,” said Marc Viardot, Roca Group Director of Marketing and Design. “When Salone turns Milan into the hub for global project business, we are showing to the architecture and design world the aspirational side of our brand. Influence epitomises the origins of Roca with a deep sensibility for materials and design.”

Cobalto Studio took as a starting point the talaiots, Bronze Age megaliths found on the islands of Menorca and Majorca. Gabriel Escámez and his team explored the design of these enigmatic structures, finding in them a link to the needs of present: to seek an appreciation of the most elemental and essential.

“Influence is a space for reflection where, through the senses, we can form an understanding of and connection to that which surrounds us,” said Gabriel Escámez, Cobalto Studio Founder.

The design of the installation was about creating the sense of peace and natural wonder evoked by the waves of the Mediterranean Sea. To achieve this, the installation made use of REDEXT, data related to waves and tides collected by a network of buoys off the Menorcan coast. Roca and Cobalto analysed that data, marking the peaks and troughs of the waves and translating them into the pulsating waves of golden light that illuminated Influence. Each wash of light and darkness that comes over the space mirrors the exact movements of a wave recorded by the REDEXT system, recalling the sensation of being submerged in the waters of the Mediterranean. Evoking the light of the sun, which nourishes the land, and the moon, which creates the tides, Escámez described the result as “immersion in the beating heart that resides in the depths of the Mare Nostrum”.

Selected pieces from the Ona collection where included throughout the installation – the soft shapes and warm colours made the ideal complement to the naturalist and vernacular aesthetic of the installation. Like traditional Mediterranean architecture, Ona seeks to create spaces of wellness, purity and connection.

Roca’s newest collection for the bathroom space, Ona combines innovative design and cutting-edge technology to achieve new standards of hygiene, comfort and sustainability.

As part of the INTERNI Design Re-Generation event, which aims to generate new design proposals in which sustainability is the key to a new way of living, Influence made use of reusable materials and the notion of resource optimisation – making the most of available resources while generating the smallest environmental impact.

Roca’s installation offered an opportunity for an open dialogue between philosophy, materiality and sustainability, enriched with a sensory experience. The result was an authentic, immersive installation that transported visitors to a Mediterranean oasis.

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Main image credit: Roca