LIBERTY OF LONDON
London
London
Liberty is not a museum but as a museum is filled with the aura of quiet beauty that only a few places open to the public are able to keep.
Liberty of London is a department store, one of the first to be opened in the Victorian capital, "a bet winning business," says Roberto Bertinetti based "on two crucial elements: continuity and innovation in the intelligence in the choice of the place. " And so did the salesman when Arthur Lasenby Liberty in 1875, decided to open a shop of his own, convinced that they can change the taste of London in fashion and homewares.
It began with a small space at 218 Regent Street, offering fabrics, objects and furniture from Japan and China, who responded to that curiosity about the East that has influenced art and the taste of that period.
As the business flourished also the role of Arthur Liberty and turned from a seller with an eye for future trends, became the spokesman of the avant-garde movements that were saying: Arts & Crafts and Art Nouveau . In particular, the alliance with the leaders of this movement led to seal the definition of "art nouveau" as a synonym for "Art Nouveau".
headquarters final department store was built in the twenties in the Tudor style, as designed by Edwin T. Hall. The store was built around three light wells onto which the galleries on each floor. Arthur Liberty wanted those who came to feel at home, wrapped in a cozy home atmosphere. The wood, which is the raw material with which this store was built, the natural light that filters through the glass ceiling and fireplaces in many rooms and present until some time ago on during the cold winter days, they could not create atmosphere cozy, serene and rarefied.
lost in the labyrinth of its rooms, then as now, you can feel that luxury sober which should not prove anything because it already has a meaning in itself, light years away from that other luxury, parvenu, who performs as noisy.
Not to miss: flowers in a thousand shades and variations, fabrics for home and for the person.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: R. Bertinetti, London, Einaudi, 2007
Liberty of London Regent Street - Gt Marlborough Street
Tube: Oxford Circus Piccadilly Circus
Hours Monday - Thursday from 10 to 21
Friday and Saturday from 10 am to Sunday from 20
12 alle 18