Of resin, of wood and of the past

In the heart of Bergamo, there is a flat that looks like a hotel. A luxury hotel, the kind where – when you cross the threshold – you feel special. It is a flat that exudes family, life and hospitality. It has large, liveable and private spaces. It is both new and experienced, orderly and extraordinary. It has studied details, precious inserts. It has perfect colours, and original geometries. And it recalls the past, offering new perspectives. Shaped by Zenucchi Design Code, it is full of memories: the family paintings, the antique furniture. Because it is first and foremost a home. In its most profound meaning. It is the home of a mother, a father and their three children. It is the home of quiet days, of peaceful homecomings. Of smiles, stories, guests and words. Every nook and cranny of it, every room of it. Starting with the living room. Here, the large Jagger sofa by Rodolfo Dordoni (2007, Minotti) is soft and informal. Together with the armchair – upholstered in Minotti’s checkered fabric – there is the fireplace, with its matt lacquered wall (made to measure), the bookcases at the side and a waxed iron sheet metal firewood holder. The sofa faces cookie-coloured cement resin walls, scattered with antique paintings and that glow with light. The room is caressed by grey curtains, and give a nod to the accessories: the old chest, the Cesar coffee table by Rodolfo Dordoni (Minotti), which resembles a piece of art. And then, at the back, Ceccotti’s cupboard. Which has sliding doors, and visually separates the living room from the dining area. A precious, elegant area. Where the table – model Xilos by Antonio Citterio (2012, Maxalto) – has a large diameter and a Calacatta marble top. Surrounding it are six chairs that have been refurbished, finished in shellac and upholstered with fine fabrics. They are elegant, an antique elegance. Like the footstools, the benches, like the furniture of yesteryear.

Massimo Castagna’s Bolle lamp (2014, Gallotti & Radice), with its burnished brass frame and blown spheres, has a regal air. It illuminates the marble, and with it the black pillar whose sheet metal is a splendid contrast to the wood wall. Because it is the walls here that make the difference. To define spaces that are unique and amazing. The entrance walls, where a grey smoked mirror hides the wardrobe; the walls in cement resin, and those in wood. The walls complement the doors: one in rosewood, opening onto the corridor, the other finished like the walls enclosing the studio. And then the boiserie that – in rosewood, oak and ash – begins in the dining room and continues through the corridor. Here, a made-to-measure wardrobe has doors with Poliform’s lacquer finish (like the wardrobes in the children’s rooms), while the doors in the bathrooms – made of honeycomb – are clad internally in rosewood and externally in the three wood finishes of the boiserie. Their frames are concealed, the overdoors are in clear glass. They have satin-finished handles, and an unparalleled elegance. As is also the case in the study, where the Segreto desk by Andrèe Putman (2007, Poltrona Frau) is upholstered in grey leather, the chairs are in velvet and the Bibliotech bookcase by Piero Lissoni (Porro) has a wood core. The master bedroom, too, is elegant. With its vintage carpet, mirrored wall and wardrobe – a Backstage model by Antonio Citterio (B&B Italia) – with shellac-finished doors and a leather interior with LED lighting. In truth, in this flat in the heart of Bergamo, everything is elegance. The floor is porphyry and walnut, the bathrooms with fine sanitary ware and wall covering: cement resin on the walls, showers in basalt stone and Statuario marble (in the master bathroom), or Calacatta marble (in the children’s bathroom). The matt lacquered furniture, the mirrors, the solid wood tables. And then, in the kitchen, a whimsical touch: Dada’s Hi-line cabinets – white lacquered with Corian backs – fitted against the colourful geometries of Azulej. A wall covering designed by Patricia Urquiola for Mutina, which enhances hydraulic cement and is reminiscent of azulejos. Because, in this house, there is no shortage of surprises. They are in the walls, in the past. In elements that tell the story of the family.