We still don’t know anything about summer, whether we can go on vacation or travel at all. For the time being, only our imagination can cross the borders, but it comes with some benefits: our dreams don’t depend on our wallets or distance. And now we can pick our favorites from fictitious holiday spots, too, thanks to the designers urged by isolation to foster our dreams.
White, sunny, cave-like shelter, with a view to the endless blue – does it ring any bells? The designers of London-based Child Studio were inspired by the architecture of the island of Santorini when they started designing the imaginary resort of Casa Plenaire during the lockdown.
The plans of the studio established in 2019 were ruined by the epidemic: they were designing a store for cosmetics company Plenaire when the crisis hit. The project got suspended, but the parties decided that even if it wasn’t possible in the physical realms, an envisioned space can still be implemented in the virtual world. The 3D model designs of Casa Plenaire, the beachside dream villa were born as a result of the collaboration.
The designers filled the villa placed in a Greek milieu with iconic pieces of design such as the Anywhere lamp of Swedish Greta von Nessen, or the Pastil chair of Finnish Eero Aarnio. The greatest strength of the house is the terrace, with a view to the Aegean Sea (this wouldn’t look any different in reality, either), but designers Che Huang and Alexy Kos also paid particular attention to the interior of the place. They placed an indoor jacuzzi under the oval skylight, and hid the shower in a secret terrace. They incorporated the most exciting elements of the local Cycladic architecture by enriching the space with differences in level and arches, amongst others.
Once you’re done admiring the villa, it’s worth taking a look at the other projects Child Studio implemented so far (in the real space, too): the interior of Humble Pizza in London oozes the same serenity as Casa Plenaire. They were nominated for several awards and were featured many times in the media owing to this restaurant project already, but they became truly popular amongst the representatives of the profession and the audience on account of their virtual project made and published during the lockdown.
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