Vòlta dei Mercanti

I call this long vaulted gallery of a covered bazaar the Vòlta dei Mercanti wallpaper, where brick draws a barrel vault receding in strict central perspective towards a distant arch. It is a fragment of Persian Islamic architecture: along both sides run rows of shops, each gathered in a pointed-arch niche, framed by a stone lintel, closed by a wooden shutter or by a narrow door flanked by a shelf for the goods.

From above, a regular line of round and octagonal skylights lets vertical shafts of light fall on the paved floor, dotting the half-light of the vault with bright blades that mark the way like silent chimes. The colour is the very material of the bazaar: ochre and sand of brick and plaster, deep terracotta of the voussoirs, pale lime of the thresholds, the worn brown of the walnut shutters, and here and there a cool accent of turquoise or cobalt maiolica set into a few niches, the only note that breaks the warm weave of the earth.

Looking close to, one discovers the run of the bricks, the irregular joints of hand-cut stone, the grain of the wood and the ironwork of the shutters, the calcareous patina around the arches. I wanted this wallpaper to return the discipline and the wonder of those old corridors, where trade became a daily rite under the light of the sky. At WallZad every aisle, every arch, every gleam of skylight is calibrated with the same craftsmanship with which, centuries ago, each single brick was laid.