MALA
Faccio cose, vedo gente

On the ground floor of Via dei Banchi Vecchi 21, nestled among the historic alleys of the center, among churches, antique stores and starred restaurants, Bevilacqua Architects design an articulated, multifunctional place on two levels. A new space, capable of staging the vitality of the Roman streets, integrating the past with the present, art with production, the salotto buono with the city. MALA is, in fact, a multidisciplinary container that seeks to bring km 0 production into dialogue with the best contemporary design, commissioning highly skilled local artisans and designers-established or emerging-to create modern and experimental pieces to be presented to a new and wider audience. The goal is that, thanks to its hybrid nature, it will become a cultural reference point, a platform for growth and research for designers: not a gallery in the canonical sense, not a residency, not a workshop, not an atelier, but a space for creation and well-being, for work, connections and encounters. And events: MALA aims to develop and exhibit up to 3 thematic projects per year. It is accessed by crossing a metaphysical threshold space, a portal made of glass and black iron. Once inside, the architectural envelope reflects the same dynamic, light, flexible character with which MALA was conceived: a series of concatenated rooms, arranged on two levels and linked together in sequence by arched openings, a tribute to the Roman building archetype. The furnishings, all strictly made-to-measure, are stage backdrops designed by Bevilacqua Architects to serve different functions together, worktops, seating, desks, storage compartments and even hideaway beds hidden behind continuous light wood surfaces. Even the chosen color palette – an elegant meeting of terracotta and powder blue nuances – declares the desire to make MALA a multifaceted, welcoming and contemporary container, deeply linked to the Roman connective tissue but, at the same time, projected toward an international dimension.

CREDITS