Illuminami

Rome, Italy

2011

Illuminami, Italian for “enlighten me,” is a lighting and interior design store and workshop. It is located in viewing distance of the Square Colosseum in Rome’s Fellini era E.U.R. district. 

Illuminami is a joint venture between a native Roman and an Australian, both with extensive retail and manufacturing experience. All items are either made on site or by local artisans. 

The space houses a workshop where the lamps and fittings are manufactured, a mezzanine level (for Russell & George) and a gallery space for the display of interior design items and lighting. The main element within the space is the large white modular display and merchandising element, which also forms the basis for the upper level mezzanine behind and stair. 

Dubbed “il porcospino” by the locals (the porcupine), the element provides a dramatic and striking interior, which draws a lot of attention from the passing trade during the evening when Romans gather in the streets for socialising and window shopping. 

The previous fitout had modular pine shelving stacked floor to ceiling throughout the space. This was carefully disassembled and the main elements reconfigured into the current composition, with some new timber elements added, particularly for the structural supports of a new mezzanine level. This provided an extremely cost effective and sustainable outcome. 

All lamps and items sold are either made on the premises in a mezzanine level workshop or by local artisans. In this way, Illuminami is really building on Italian culture and tradition, where sustainability has always been about both the social and the environmental.

This project is possibly the most sustainable retail store completed by Russell & George to this date. It was constructed out of the existing fixtures that were dismantled and reconfigured into a composition that can be completely rearranged depending on whether hanging space or shelving is required. This resulted in little waste, little additional embodied energy, and the reconfigurable nature means that the fitout will not need to be altered for years to come. 

Illuminami also seeks to buck the trend of global manufacturing and instead focuses on the local. Everyone wins in this process. Products are not shipped across the world, they are made locally. Customers get a complete personal experience and product, and local artisans have an outlet for their products. 

Photography : Peter Bennetts