Retail giant Zara is not about to be left out during this year's Salone del Mobile; today they unveiled an installation by architect Ben van Berkel and UNStudio at their impressive Vittorio Emanuele flagship store in Milan.

The five metre tall coated aluminium structure is lit from within using LEDs, and is echoed in two smaller pieces displayed in the shop's windows.

The contrast between the store entrance’s classical look - marble flooring, mosaics, a gilded ceiling and a grand Murano glass chandelier - and the installation's cutting-edge design in curved aluminium, offers a subtle play on reflected light and the surrounding environment.

UNStudio’s installation is a cross between a sculpture, an item of furniture, and a pavilion. Its position is directly behind the entrance of the shop, at a prominent spot in the atrium where many period details of the shop’s previous incarnation as a cinema are preserved. The installation responds to this situation in both shape and materialization.

The funnel-shaped opening at the top of the aluminum cone follows the outlines of an original monumental circular chandelier. Both installation and chandelier are carefully positioned at the center of a circular plateau that is semi-enclosed by two sweeping staircases that meet at the top and are framed by curved walls.

On the inside, the concave surfaces of the panels turn into the backrest of the seating elements that are integrated at the bottom of the installation. Because of the centrifugal shape, these four seats are positioned in a loose oval, allowing the temporary occupants to either sit quietly by themselves, taking a moment for rest and reflection, or to communicate with each other in pairs or as a group.

The panels of the installation partly veil the occupants from their busy surroundings, while at the same time putting them at the epicenter of the Zara store. In addition to the installation, two smaller pieces of coated aluminum, shaped like curved shards from the same cone, have been positioned in the shop windows next to the entrance.