MODERN MEMOIR
— HOME MILAN
Home
Part private base part project, the Milan home of Studiopepe partner Arianna Lelli Mami and photographer Andrea Ferrari is a repository of memories and a composite of their individual and shared aesthetic sensibilities.
“This suited us so well. It is an old 30s building with a modern style. We love how everything is made with meticulous attention to quality, something you don’t always find in modern buildings. There is a richness in the building, not in a show-off kind of way, but a deeper quality,” says Lelli Mami. Even before you enter the apartment you can see this in the detailing of the common spaces; the curvaceous steel and enamelled metal staircase, patterned mosaic marble floors and the wooden panels hiding the doors to each apartment.
It was a perfect canvas for Lelli Mami who, with partner Chiara Di Pinto, runs Studiopepe, the Milan-based studio with conceptual and narrative approach to everything from interiors and furniture to colour consulting and exhibition design. In her home she wanted to respect the architecture and at the same time create the powerful emotional and aesthetic impact for which their studio is renowned.
“We love the juxtaposition of old and new and opted for vintage pieces like a Tacchini sofa and Memphis lamp by Tobia Scarpa from the 70s and 80s,” she says of choices made with her husband for the apartment. “We deliberately didn’t use period furniture as we wanted to avoid a cinematic look or the home looking like a 1930s space.”
“THE COLOURS OF THE WALLS ARE NOT JUST DECORATION. WE HAVE CHOSEN COLOURS WITH MATTE SURFACES FOR ARCHITECTURAL QUALITY TO ADD A SPECIFIC FEEL TO EACH ROOM.”
Arianna Lelli Mami
The story featuring their transformation of a 1930s apartment is in Ark Journal VOL III.
WORDS KARIN GRÅBÆK HELLEDIE
PHOTOGRAPHY ANDREA FERRARI
CASE STUDY
— PERIOD PIECES
In the unique surroundings of the house created by Danish sculptor Rikard Axel Poulsen (1887-1972) furniture, lighting and homewares by contemporary designers exhibit their serene poise, the avant-garde flanked by the archaic to create layers of history.
CULTIVATING PATINA
How to create a newly built house that feels comfortably familiar and as burnished as the well-loved objects that move with the owners? Designer Elisabeth Snejbjerg and former architect now photographer Mikael Bonde after 25 years in Copenhagen moved to the country near Aarhus to a house they designed and built among trees.
BACKYARD REFUGE
Small but perfectly matched, two residences in a courtyard are reduced to the essentials using quality materials and maximum light to create welcoming tranquillity.
MODERN MEMOIR
— HOME MILAN
home
Part private base part project, the Milan home of Studiopepe partner Arianna Lelli Mami and photographer Andrea Ferrari is a repository of memories and a composite of their individual and shared aesthetic sensibilities.
“This suited us so well. It is an old 30s building with a modern style. We love how everything is made with meticulous attention to quality, something you don’t always find in modern buildings. There is a richness in the building, not in a show-off kind of way, but a deeper quality,” says Lelli Mami. Even before you enter the apartment you can see this in the detailing of the common spaces; the curvaceous steel and enamelled metal staircase, patterned mosaic marble floors and the wooden panels hiding the doors to each apartment.
It was a perfect canvas for Lelli Mami who, with partner Chiara Di Pinto, runs Studiopepe, the Milan-based studio with conceptual and narrative approach to everything from interiors and furniture to colour consulting and exhibition design. In her home she wanted to respect the architecture and at the same time create the powerful emotional and aesthetic impact for which their studio is renowned.
“We love the juxtaposition of old and new and opted for vintage pieces like a Tacchini sofa and Memphis lamp by Tobia Scarpa from the 70s and 80s,” she says of choices made with her husband for the apartment. “We deliberately didn’t use period furniture as we wanted to avoid a cinematic look or the home looking like a 1930s space.”
“THE COLOURS OF THE WALLS ARE NOT JUST DECORATION. WE HAVE CHOSEN COLOURS WITH MATTE SURFACES FOR ARCHITECTURAL QUALITY TO ADD A SPECIFIC FEEL TO EACH ROOM.”
Arianna Lelli Mami
The story featuring their transformation of a 1930s apartment is in Ark Journal VOL III.
WORDS KARIN GRÅBÆK HELLEDIE
PHOTOGRAPHY ANDREA FERRARI