Imagination and The Balvenie unveiled Transposition, with Samuel Ross at Milan Design Week
Experience design agency Imagination has partnered with The Balvenie and renowned artist and designer Dr. Samuel Ross MBE to create TRANSPOSITION – an immersive, multi-sensory sculptural environment launching The Balvenie Fifty Collection at Milan Design Week 2024.
Set in the atmospheric Old Foundry in Isola, Milan, the piece is a bold reinterpretation of the hospitality experience, merging industrial craftsmanship with the natural world. This site specific work, developed in collaboration with Samuel Ross’ atelier, SR_A, and The Balvenie, celebrates the brand’s deep-rooted commitment to craft, its alchemic production and innovation.
The sculptural environment forms part of Interwoven Stories, a wider campaign honouring The Balvenie 50 Collection. The imposing copper frames are a direct reference to The Balvenie’s distillation techniques, incorporating industrial materials and brutalist forms that echo the distillery’s architecture. Along with light, shadow, and sound, TRANSPOSITION brings to life the interwoven stories of craft and community that are at the heart of The Balvenie and aims to break through the romanticised tropes of whisky, merging craft, the natural world and the industrial, offering a fully sensorial hospitality experience. At its centre, a bespoke bar exclusively offers a menu of The Balvenie curated serves, enhanced by carefully curated glassware, designed to personalise each guest’s journey through taste and environment.
Imagination played a pivotal role in shaping this project from its inception, having worked with The Balvenie to define the initial creative brief that led to the selection of Samuel Ross as the campaign’s creative partner. Imagination has brought the work to life, ensuring that every detail aligns with the brand’s legacy and future-forward vision.
Dr Samuel Ross MBE said:
“TRANSPOSITION is a collision between two worlds. Between the elements and the man made. Between craft and industry. The works, and sculptural environment of TRANSPOSITION, will change your relationship with what you are tasting on site.”
Ross Wheeler, Business Director & Head of Live at Imagination, said:
“Through TRANSPOSITION, we’ve created a unique sensory experience that not only showcases The Balvenie’s craftsmanship but also redefines hospitality within the design sphere. Our collaboration with Samuel Ross and The Balvenie has resulted in an installation that is both thought-provoking and deeply immersive.”
Founded over 50 years ago, Imagination specializes in Consulting, Destinations, Content and Live Events, has 13 global studios worldwide and clients that include Major League Baseball, Visa, Amazon, Ford, LVMH, Harley-Davidson, and Google.
The Balvenie is a unique range of single malts created by Kelsey McKechnie. The Balvenie Single Malt Scotch Whisky is produced by William Grant & Sons, an award-winning independent family-owned distiller, founded by William Grant in 1887 and today run by his direct descendants
Samuel Ross’ contributions to fashion have been well-documented, with Awards including three British Fashion Awards, two GQ Awards, and The Hublot Design Prize. Ross has been awarded two doctorates. Ross’ practice spans from solo exhibitions with White Cube and Friedman Benda to innovative wearable objects engineered with LVMH, NIKE and Apple. His work is held in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the V&A.
In 2014, Ross founded A-Cold-Wall*, a luxury sportswear brand, which he sold in 2023 after establishing global stores and collaborations, including A-Cold-Wall* x NIKE. In 2019, Ross founded SR_A, focusing on artisan-driven industrial beautification of garments, objects and space. In 2024, SR_A entered a joint venture with ZARA. In 2020, he launched the Black British Artist Grants Programme, providing funding to 50 artists.
SR_A is a British Maison. Founded in London in 2019 by Dr. Samuel Ross and his longtime business partner Yi Ng. Its function is that of an ongoing exploration into the artisan-driven, industrial beautification of garments, objects and space. Partners of the Maison include long-term joint ventures and partnerships with LVMH, Inditex and Apple Group via Beats with industry wide accolades and recognition from LVMH, Wallpaper, Elle Decor.