Arion librerie indipendenti has opened a new, larger store in Rome and that was designed by us from Studio Algoritmo. The book market is changing radically and it is possible to observe an overlap between the dear, old and materic book and the birth of new technologies for reading. with increasing success. it follows that we are experiencing a kind of technological and generational turnover (shift) among users. On the one hand the new generations that approach reading through digital media, on the other the old clients, that often see in this passage a real affront to the book culture. Conceiving and giving shape to the space, we have tried to make the both ways of thinking and interacting with the reading coexist in peaceful harmony.

The industrial and commercial history is filled with moments in which they occur changes in technology and market; dealing with this project, Studio Algoritmo tried to analyze the economic and social trends, to understand where and how the old and the new media can coexist and interact, not betraying the regular customers and attracting new potential customers. Arion has welcomed totally our analysis and provided us with all the information necessary to better understand what is going on in this historic moment. So we tried to take Arion to change, without denying the image of a company present on the market since four decades. Our ideative contribution has experienced all the design elements: our is the conception of the architectural space, the furniture, the furnishings and the communication, and in them you can find both the artisanal component and the industrial one. We did it by involving the best skilled workers and local businesses that were using only high quality materials.

We have eliminated some materials that are traditional for a library like solid wood, shifting to steel and glass and opal color. We have chosen a solution in which the chromatic basic colors are neutral, so that they bring out the colors of the book’s covers and the selection of items offered; the design of the lights is based on a delicate interplay between warm and cold tones. There are numerous citations that refer to the digital universe and to the show buisseness as well, like cinema, old musicals and circus, fields that are expressed in a language understandable by both the old and the new generations. Our message tries to say: “Hey! No matter the way you read, but know that only a book, which can be printed or digital, can convey you certain emotions. Come in, get comfy and get carried away … The real show begins here. ”