Milan, Porta Venezia district. An apartement in a building that in the beginning of the 1900s belonged to a family involved in iron working, is now the home of Alessia Bossi and Alberto Nespoli, respective co-founders of the creative agency We Are Lovers and the design atelier Eligo Studio. The space was already very bright with beautiful antique finishes.
Milan Apartment in Porta Venezia
Location
Milan, ItalyYear
2022Type
ResidentialClient
Private commissionArea
135 sqmPhoto credits
Nathalie Krag
ABOUT THE PROJECT
The corridor, in anthracite resin, distributes access to the different rooms: a clear and decisive sign that combines the ancient to the contemporary. A boundary line between the different spaces, refined by the restoration of the original wooden portals that had been replaced with modern elements.
Even the new large bathroom, with a free-standing tub with classic lines, is played on the contrast between lime-colored surfaces and a resin floor. The walls of the living room, where the predominant color is white, are finished with lime putty, which gives softness to the environment. The fireplace, from an early villa of the twentieth century, is the focus around which the decor of the living room is built.
ARCHITECT ALBERTO NESPOLI:
“We were immediately in love with its charm because we love working with the contrast between past and present: we enhance history, but we create current contrasts at the same time. The renovation was strongly conservative, we wanted to maintain the original structure as much as possible. We therefore decided to move the kitchen, joining it to the dining room, in order to experience the house in a convivial way. We chose stark colors, without shading. The light colors of walls and ceilings ‘against’ the darks of the anthracite doorways. The feminine finishes such as boldness and plaster friezes contrasted with the hardness of iron and mirrored materials. On this basic principle, we played with scenic elements and interior custom design”.
Art and Design coexist in a harmonious way, in a continuous interaction between new elements and icons of the past. From the armchairs by Le Corbusier to the wood sculpture of Mario Ceroli,to custom furniture designed by Eligo Studio.
The iron portal that connects living room and dining room is a scenic element that stands out between the two areas by framing a work by the contemporary artist Lorenzo Vitturi.
ARCHITECT ALBERTO NESPOLI:
“The painting, ‘Creamy Dalston Stuff,’ is a photograph of a sculpture he made assembling objects mainly from Ghana and China, salvaged from the Ridley Road neighborhood market in the Dalston neighborhood”.
PUBLICATIONS
Elle Decor Italia-April 2023