Memories and design

This is the home of a young couple who entrusted their dreams to Zenucchi Design Code which was able to understand them immediately and accurately transform them into an architecture tailored to the customers’ personality. Their ideal home had to reflect a modern image, with the special feature of introducing some antiques into the minimalist design: a rendezvous with the owners’ memories and experience. From this input, Zenucchi and its staff defined the profile of the house to be built. The design work was followed in detail from the beginning: the structure was rustic and showed a traditional “arrangement” of the spaces with the living area on the ground floor and the sleeping area on the first floor. Distribution wisely reversed by the designers, who wanted to and managed to enhance the natural cuts of light and views of the green hills, moving the dining area to the top floor. Several living spaces were created in this space: the kitchen, the laundry room and a small, but decidedly elegant “guest” bathroom where the furnishing elements are reflected in the resin flooring. The bright kitchen reflects the white colour of the ceiling, made of stained wood, and the walls decorated with matt slaked lime putty; and, through the cuts of light from the three openings, it continues visually beyond the confines of the walls into the green rooms of the terraces. Indoor and outdoor spaces that dissolve thanks to the skilful juxtaposition of colours and surfaces, sometimes glossy, like the acid green of Porro’s wall cabinet or the graphite grey of Boffi’s island; sometimes velvety, like the white Corian of the kitchen top or Knoll’s Eero Saarinen oval table.

These colours are complemented by the grey, gloss or brushed, tones of the Harry Bertoia steel chairs, also by Knoll, and the technological accessories and appliances that make a kitchen of pure design functional. Green, grey, white and a fair background tone in the window and door frames and the oak plank flooring: these are the colours with which the kitchen space is played out, in which the organic arrangement allows both a harmonious setting of the objects in their surroundings and the enhancement of their individual character. And conveying a strong personality is certainly the historic ‘Arco’ lamp designed by Pier Giacomo Castiglioni in 1962 for Flos, positioned in the corner to illuminate the dining table from above. This is the only direct light point on a horizontal surface; the design choice in fact fell on a lighting system with flush-fitting lamps that radiate a diffuse, non-spot light. The same concept found its natural evolution in the lounge on the floor below. Here, the play of light was also achieved through hanging rectangular “pictures” made of thin brown twisted cotton threads, which intertwine with the background notes of classical music to create and define a velvety, private space. This is the space for conversation or reading a book. And, as required by the function of the place, the grey palettes change, the shades soften, and the browns are juxtaposed with the chenille of the fabric of the Minotti sofa, embellished with leather cushions, matched with the Calder coffee table in polyester ebony and the antique furniture. In front of the entrance there is an unapologetically contemporary element: a linear, slubbed and waxed iron curtain wall, marks the division between the entrance area and the adjacent spaces. The bathroom, study and bedroom are all located on this floor and reflect the same decisive imprint that finds an inspired combination of antique and modern. Only the bathroom is unapologetically minimal: the all-white sanitary ware rises from the brushed basalt stone surface of the floor also used for the staircase connecting the floors. The atmosphere is relaxing and white candles on an iron tray contribute to creating a pleasantly soft “mood”. Only the greenery of the anthurium and the ice plants cuts through the spotless monochrome and shifts the gaze to the detail of the bottle of Penhaligon perfume: a personal touch that once again conveys the owners’ strong and sophisticated personality; a side to their character that Studio Zenucchi was able to understand and incorporate in the design.