Wunderkammer in Piola in Living Corriere | ATOMAA

2021.01

Wunderkammer in Piola in Living Corriere

Publication

Milan, IT

In a historic building in the Piola area, an apartment renovated respecting the traces of time, where the stuccos coexist with the design choices and the new wooden elements draw a contemporary scenography.

Neither traditional nor modern, with an eclectic style that is a combination of sedimentations, additions and overlaps. In a period building in the Piola area of Milan, the ATOMAA studio has renovated a 110 sqm apartment as a modern 'wunderkammer', in which the new bespoke furnishings have softly blended with vintage pieces and pre-existing materials.

The intention was to "create lively environments", starting from a neutral background dictated by the light colour of the walls in order to bring out the furnishings as much as possible and new wooden elements developed together with the designer Giacomo Moor.

The renovation, carried out without losing sight of the budget, is the result of a close exchange between architect and client, a thirty-year-old couple of professionals who have long been linked to designers for professional reasons.

Considering the state of affairs, represented by the beautiful volumes typical of houses of the period, the architects had the foresight to intervene in a light way, limiting the demolitions and enhancing what was there: from the plaster frames, down to details less visible, even traces of past eras. The original herringbone cherry wood floor in the living room is no exception: it had to be dismantled and has instead been restored to its former glory.

The internal distribution was created with a clear hierarchy: the large main space dedicated to the living area has been opened as much as possible and is now seamlessly unified through three portals of the same size, which facilitate access to the service spaces. In the kitchen, a part of the wardrobe camouflages one of the entrances, as if it were a secret passage, which appears and disappears completely.

In terms of furnishings, vintage furniture coexists in a casual way mixed with more recent pieces and design objects collected over time by the owners. Here a Le Corbusier armchair dated 1928 is accompanied by a recent sofa by Piero Lissoni, the "eternal" Castiglioni and Prouvé lamps are combined with an industrial table by Konstantin Grcic, in a dialogue made temporally possible by the design, not at all in contrast but simply open to accommodate various eras and styles.