Houzz Tour: Milan Apartment Channels Midcentury Italian Design
A table and tile designed by Gio Ponti inspire a renovation for a pair of art collectors
This apartment in Milan is owned by avid art collectors whose most prized possession is a 1960s dressing table designed by Italian designer Gio Ponti for the Hotel Parco dei Principi in Sorrento, Italy. This table and the hotel’s ceramic floors, also designed by Ponti, inspired their home’s final look. The table is reflected in the apartment’s light blue color scheme, while Ponti’s floor designs are evoked by the cement tile.
Art and design take center stage without detracting from the apartment’s overall laid-back feel.
The entrance flows into the living room. A huge work of art by Austrian artist Hermann Nitsch occupies the widest wall. This room is furnished with a ’50s couch and armchairs that had belonged to the owner’s grandparents. The architects in charge of this project, Andrea Pezzoli and Giulia Urciuoli, matched these vintage treasures with a contemporary couch in a pastel blue to echo the Hotel Parco dei Principi’s signature shade.
Couch: Love (Me) Tender by Patricia Urquiola, Moroso
The entrance flows into the living room. A huge work of art by Austrian artist Hermann Nitsch occupies the widest wall. This room is furnished with a ’50s couch and armchairs that had belonged to the owner’s grandparents. The architects in charge of this project, Andrea Pezzoli and Giulia Urciuoli, matched these vintage treasures with a contemporary couch in a pastel blue to echo the Hotel Parco dei Principi’s signature shade.
Couch: Love (Me) Tender by Patricia Urquiola, Moroso
Behind the green couch stands another ’50s piece, a shelving unit that opens up to become a bar.
Putting a Recess to Work
The living room actually curves around the building’s elevator — on the other side of this wall — which creates the recessed space seen here. It serves as a cozy office.
Putting a Recess to Work
The living room actually curves around the building’s elevator — on the other side of this wall — which creates the recessed space seen here. It serves as a cozy office.
The bookcase stands out for its triangular brackets. It was designed by the architects and crafted out of untreated pine by Art Design di Ajazi, which was responsible for all the carpentry work in the house. Pezzoli points out that pine is a leitmotif in the project.
The desk was made to measure and features a built-in drawer for quickly clearing away computers and other desktop mess. The pole-like pendant light on the left illuminates the space.
The parquet floor throughout the home is original. It was in good shape when the owners bought the apartment, so they chose to just polish it and bring it back to its natural color.
Light: Xilema, Linea Light Group; find all kinds of lighting
The desk was made to measure and features a built-in drawer for quickly clearing away computers and other desktop mess. The pole-like pendant light on the left illuminates the space.
The parquet floor throughout the home is original. It was in good shape when the owners bought the apartment, so they chose to just polish it and bring it back to its natural color.
Light: Xilema, Linea Light Group; find all kinds of lighting
The wooden structure of the load-bearing pillar in the living room is covered with thin brass sheeting so that it would “reflect the room rather than creating a visual obstacle,” Urciuoli says. This adds interest to a noticeable feature that could not be structurally altered.
The TV is in front of the blue sofa, hidden behind a sliding panel, as the owners requested.
The TV is in front of the blue sofa, hidden behind a sliding panel, as the owners requested.
The architects designed the dining table to match the vintage ’70s chairs. The cement tile floor features a light blue geometric design. It outlines the dining area and continues into the kitchen. As already noted, this floor was inspired by Ponti’s design for the Hotel Parco dei Principi.
The kitchen was originally open to the living room, but the team divided it from the rest of the space with a pine wall.
The theme in this space is symmetry, evident in the two paintings by Pablo Bronstein, the two doors (leading to the kitchen and the hallway) and the two polygonal designs formed by the light fixture cables on the ceiling.
Lights: String by Michael Anastassiades, Flos; cement tile: Mosaic del Sur; browse cement tile
So Many Reasons to Love Cement Tiles
The kitchen was originally open to the living room, but the team divided it from the rest of the space with a pine wall.
The theme in this space is symmetry, evident in the two paintings by Pablo Bronstein, the two doors (leading to the kitchen and the hallway) and the two polygonal designs formed by the light fixture cables on the ceiling.
Lights: String by Michael Anastassiades, Flos; cement tile: Mosaic del Sur; browse cement tile
So Many Reasons to Love Cement Tiles
Having enclosed the kitchen, the architects turned it into a long and narrow space with a breakfast area at one end. The countertop is made of Corian.
The kitchen was designed by Pezzoli and Urciuoli along with the carpenters from Art Design di Ajazi. The nearly floor-to-ceiling cabinets are made of white-painted MDF and have integrated handles.
Are Those Sleek Handleless Kitchen Cabinets for You?
The kitchen was designed by Pezzoli and Urciuoli along with the carpenters from Art Design di Ajazi. The nearly floor-to-ceiling cabinets are made of white-painted MDF and have integrated handles.
Are Those Sleek Handleless Kitchen Cabinets for You?
On the hallway side, the kitchen is enclosed in a kind of pine box. On the right, this incorporates a small laundry area and storage space.
The cement tiles from the kitchen and dining room reappear, this time in sage green, in the main bathroom. The vanity is made of pine.
“To achieve a homogenous feel in the wood throughout the house, we asked the carpenter to use material from a single supply, so as to minimize differences in tone and grain,” Pezzoli says.
Find a bathroom designer near you
“To achieve a homogenous feel in the wood throughout the house, we asked the carpenter to use material from a single supply, so as to minimize differences in tone and grain,” Pezzoli says.
Find a bathroom designer near you
Fanciful Art for a Nursery
In the children’s bedroom opposite, the walls are covered with a mural of an imaginary forest by illustrator Insunsit.
Floor lamp: Toio by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Flos
In the children’s bedroom opposite, the walls are covered with a mural of an imaginary forest by illustrator Insunsit.
Floor lamp: Toio by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Flos
The mural incorporates a deer head made of papier-mâché by Studio Gnu.
A pine closet surrounds the door. An air conditioner is hidden in the compartments above the door, which are left open in summer.
Light: Vertigo by Constance Guisset, Petite Friture
Light: Vertigo by Constance Guisset, Petite Friture
Ponti’s dressing table is in the master bedroom. The work of art over the bed is another piece by Nitsch, who created the large painting in the living room. The bedside tables were built based on the architects’ design.
5 Life Lessons We Can Learn From Italian Design
5 Life Lessons We Can Learn From Italian Design
The second bathroom is next to the master bedroom. It features the same tile as the main bathroom, while the shower is finished in a white mosaic.
Ceiling light: IC by Michael Anastassiades, Flos
Ceiling light: IC by Michael Anastassiades, Flos
Across from the living room is a large patio. “We chose plants that would create interesting views from the inside, so we focused on very bushy, almost wild, evergreen plants that would work in this predominantly shady area,” Pezzoli says. They also wanted to strike a contrast between the ordered interior and a more disordered exterior.
Hanging on the back wall are handmade ceramic vases equipped with an irrigation system.
Vases: Marlik Ceramics
Hanging on the back wall are handmade ceramic vases equipped with an irrigation system.
Vases: Marlik Ceramics
The home is laid out in a linear order. The floor plan shows how well the designers balanced spaces while incorporating ample storage.
This renovation, which cost about $136,000 (including furniture), introduced just enough decorative elements to add interest without overpowering the artwork. Here, art and design coexist without creating a “gallery” feel, and the overall effect is of a cozy, comfortable family home.
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This renovation, which cost about $136,000 (including furniture), introduced just enough decorative elements to add interest without overpowering the artwork. Here, art and design coexist without creating a “gallery” feel, and the overall effect is of a cozy, comfortable family home.
More home tours: Apartments | Small Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | All
Apartment at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple of art collectors and their two young children
Location: Milan
Size: 1,292 square feet (120 square meters)
Architects: Andrea Pezzoli and Giulia Urciuoli of co.arch