February 4, 2020

Text: Jesse Dorris

Inside a Milan Apartment with Timeless Design

pink tile walls open up to a pastel green hallway with vertical tiles above wall sconces
The team installed Rowan & Erwan Bouroullec’s Rombini tiles for Mutina above sconces by Michele De Lucchi for Artemide in a hallway. Photography by Riccardo Gasperoni.

The designers behind the Milanese collective Studio Paradisiartificiali keep their identities anonymous, and their project teams global, connected by Skype and Teamviewer and the like. But their work always has a clear point of view. This 1,100-square-foot apartment in Milan is a prime example. It’s a collaboration with the Mexican artist Guillermo Flores Orbeh that travels through time collecting influences and objects from mid-century Italy, the Memphis movement, and global jungles.

a wall-length built-in bookshelf filled with books in a room filled with natural light
The living room gathers a vintage Grete Jalk for France & Daverkosen teak lounge chair, a Guglielmo Veronesi for ISA Bergamo sofa, and a coffee table by Matteo Zorzenoni for Miniforms, all beneath a Constance Guisset by Petite Friture pendant. Photography by Riccardo Gasperoni.

“The design centers around the mixing and matching of a few, simple geometries amidst the luxuriant vegetation of an imaginary garden,” the collective states. “The effect is that of a votive temple, an architecture born to celebrate domestic rituals.” A clear color story—dusty pink, cool green, and white, enlivened by Orbeh’s botanical mural in the dining area—keep the focus on vintage treasures from the likes of Gio Ponti. “When a house represents living in its most intimate form,” they say, “it turns into a home, a physical and mental extension of its inhabitants.” An also, in this case, a timeless design.

a dining area in a Milan apartment with a nature-themed tile wall artwork
In the kitchen, vintage Gio Ponti chairs for Cassina boast new cushions by Maisons du Monde, who also manufactured the pendants. Photography by Riccardo Gasperoni.
an India Mahdavi tapestry hangs above a console in a Milan apartment
Interior Design Hall of Fame member India Mahdavi’s tapestry for Golran hangs above a Habitat sideboard and Maisons du Monde rug. Photography by Riccardo Gasperoni.
a bathroom with blue floor tiles and colorful artwork on the walls
The bathroom includes a Paolo Dell’Elce sconce for Il Fanale, an Ardeco mirror and cabinet, Antonio Citterio’s Pozzi-Ginori bidet, white wall tiles by Ceramica Vogue, and Cerim floor tiles. Photography by Riccardo Gasperoni.
a transparent blue side table holds a lamp and vase next to a beige upholstered bed
In the bedroom, a Matteo Zorzenoni table for Miniforms supports a vintage Ftilnovo mid-century table lamp from Dimanoinmano, near a Vittorio Prato bed for Flou. Photography by Riccardo Gasperoni.

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