Liberty – Stamperia Olonia
Varese
Client: Liberty
Location: Varese, Italy
Surface: x m2
Concept 2019
OVERLAY architecture

_What if,
A place becomes a gathering point for a community
A free port where everything is possible
An ephemeral world which changes every time
A unique chance to live out an experience
A campfire we keep coming back to
A landmark for art performances
A school in the field
And an open-air cinema
All light on the ground
_What if, this place is a factory?
Signing out of the choir is in the DNA of Liberty London. The courage to take new roads, to be pathfinders for unexpected scenarios and new styles. Printing on everything is the mission of Stamperia Olonia (part of the Liberty Group), from the smallest objects to the biggest textiles, bringing a voice to the matter, writing stories, painting worlds on inanimate surfaces.
_What if, those two souls join forces?
Both of them are focused on discovering new patterns, bringing forward new styles and ideas to the market every season and working together with artists and creative minds. They need food for thought, by staying connected with art, trends, fashion and design in order to keep innovating and creating. In the meantime they need to run their production, logistics and commercial operations.
_What if, they could do all of this in the same place?
Using a traditional architectural approach will provide a static environment where only few possibilities of use will be allowed; where it will be difficult to change and expand possibilities and spaces to do different things in different times. But if we change register, if we outsource our spaces from temporary architecture, from the festival culture, from the magic advantage of periphery where the lack of guidance and being “light on the ground,” we will have unexpected possibilities to be and connect with each other.
_What if we add structures, dwellings and spaces
Into and around the existing factory with a big scaffolding which can encircle the premises, as a big stage; where it is possible to hang and print big canvases, or cultivate plants, to show art and to run through it.
Building campfires on the roof, driving in moveable marketplaces, creating art and fashion events and concerts, gathering of expertise, in a temporary village. Mount it in few days and dismount it after, or move it somewhere in a different form. And doing the same inside, building light spaces, with tents and membranes, like constant changing displays, like theatre scenery, where everything is possible.
Overlay Architecture is the way to stay light and focus on empowering the people, their interactions, their needs and their dreams, to make what the traditional architecture cannot do, to be cheaper and more sustainable, faster and smarter.
Architecture is dead, long live Overlay Architecture
Stamperia Olonia is part of the Liberty Group and is a leader in third-party production of natural printed fabrics for the home and clothing. D/DOCK participated in 2019 in a pitch to create a new identity for the Fabrics Paradise Center of Printing Excellence. The plan should provide solutions that respond to the needs of the new logistics, creating an experience of different levels of usage (visitor, client, staff) appropriate to the level of excellence present in this Center of Excellence.













