Sugar & Spice

‘Sugar & Spice’ is an innovative installation created by Blok by Carina for the Dutch Pavilion at Milan Design Week 2019. It pays homage to the Golden Age when Dutch merchants brought back precious fabrics and spices from the Far East. This beautiful blend of history and modernity showcases the transformation of that era into a thrilling adventure, combining the East and West to create a unique style reminiscent of Rembrandt’s work from the 17th century.

The installation’s walls are decorated with golden geometric patterns with cut and polished glass, beautifully illuminated from behind. The hanging beads in the same octagonal pattern revolve around their axis, creating a playful display of movement, color, shadow, and light. Blok by Carina mixed and matched Abet Laminati’s existing rich collection with the most recent Diplos collection, using shades that refer to the spices and materials bought by Dutch merchant ships.

‘Sugar & Spice’ also features a more intimate corner area, a modern interpretation of the lavishly ornamented environment, with three-layer staggered acoustic walls that open and close like wings. Behind this three-dimensional gateway lies a personal sanctuary, where peacock blue, off-white, black, gold, and pink hues dominate, creating a luxurious and elegant atmosphere. Two shimmering mouth-blown vases with flared HLP collars in a striped pattern depict huge perfume bottles, playing with light, color, and reflection. 

The upholstered poufs in spicy mustard yellow and sweet raspberry red add pops of color to the space, thus, capturing the spirit of the Golden Age.