The apartment overlooks the river Arno, with the Pontevecchio immediately to the left, and the Uffizi Gallery straight ahead.
From the sequence of glass doors, opening onto the terrace, and from all the other framed windows, the views of the most important monuments of Florence are captivating. With a single glance, one can travel the entire course of the river Arno. These views are like a series of "paintings", becoming the real stars, and the layout and finishes of this home have been thought around each of these, enhancing the panorama.
The corridor at the entrance is parallel to the river Arno and is finished in Italian walnut on the walls and ceiling, interrupted first by a niche, covered in orange linoleum, which contains a suspended bench, then perforated by two massive portals in Verdi Alpi marble. These portals connect corridor, kitchen and living-room generating a plastic spatial permeation between these environments.
The corridor hides spaces and reveals others: by a pair of retractable doors, you can access to the vestibules that filter the two sleeping areas of the house (one a master-suite; the other consisting of two bedrooms and bathrooms). In the vestibules, there are colored graniglia artworks by the artist Andrea Sala.
The kitchen, at the center of the house, consists of a stainless steel island trimmed in brass, and a vertical cupboard hidden behind opening panels, decorated with black glazed traditional tiles, by the artist Francesco Ardini.
The floor, except for the bathrooms and the corridor, is in linoleum of different colors – light for the living areas and dark for the sleeping ones – with solid walnut linear band inlays, rounded at the corners, thus forming “rugs” within each room.
The choice of furnishings gives the interiors an eclectic atmosphere. The elements used vary from vintage Moroccan rugs, a massive glass table, designed by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte, surrounded by vintage Cesca chairs by Marcel Breuer; a peculiar sideboard by Otto Shultz, to armchairs with Vienna straw inserts, designed by Jan Bocan and produced by Thonet, in dialogue with the sofas designed by Massimo Adario.
The sofas are built with a modular system of glossy lacquered metal tubes, curved at the corners, which supports a walnut structure, with Vienna straw backs on which the cushions rest. The same system is used for the custom-made beds and nightstand, also by Massimo Adario.
The walls of the rooms are covered with a boiserie made of linoleum inserts, of different colors, with walnut trims and curved corners. In the bedroom, the boiserie panels are held off the ground and ceiling, as though suspended to form a continuous band “containing” the framed windows. Hidden within and behind these bands, there are the functional wardrobes. The handles have been conceived in glazed ceramic by the artist Francesco Ardini.
The colors are interpreted and applied on different materials with different techniques and therefore with different shades, but all in dialogue with each other; like everything in this unusual project, naturally imperfect and "messy".
