Italian Interiors: Rooms with a View
By Laura May Todd
New York and London: Phaidon, $70
272 pages, 250 color illustrations
In a seminal 1928 essay, Gio Ponti described the model Italian home as something much more than a refuge from the elements. It must go beyond the functional, he said, as a house is not only shelter but “a repository for life: a place where objects delight and provide comfort.” The domiciles collected in this new volume exemplify that theory, showcasing examples that serve as a canvas onto which the individuality of their residents is painted.
The 50 projects are assembled into a novel table of contents, each itemized not by name or designer but with a description. And, rather than proceeding chronologically, chapters are arranged into a montage of styles and time periods. For example, Il Palazzetto, a Monselice farmhouse renovated by Carlo Scarpa and his son Tobia between 1978 and 2006, is listed as “a 16th-century home reworked by a pair of renowned architects;” it now has a room appointed with a Le Corbusier LC4 chaise lounge.
Current designers are here as well. Mirta Ottaviani’s Puglian vacation retreat mixes limewashed white with vibrant accents and has ample outdoor access. In contrast on the very next page, a Tuscan home by Baciocchi Associati is earthier, its walls made of cocciopesto, a concrete dating to ancient Rome.
As for Ponti, his work appears in the form of Casa di Fantasia, a Milan apartment he originally completed in 1953 for an art-collecting couple that’s considered, as the name implies, one of his boldest commissions. It was recently reinterpreted by David/Nicolas studio founders Nicolas Moussallem and David Raffoul, who not only preserved the surrealist style but also added it to with such elements as French oak boiserie inlaid with tiger stripes—exactly the sort of joy-sparking detail il signori Ponti spoke of when imagining the perfect Italian interior.
