95 MILAN ROOMS WITH A VIEW

A terrace for every room provides a 360-degree panorama of the city. Built on two floors, the rigorous architecture dissolves the boundaries between inside and outside

Breakfast in the morning is taken in the kitchen. Sitting at the table your attention is drawn to the window. Within a stone’s throw, visible through the rooftops, aerials, bell-towers and satellite dishes, is the Madonnina statue on top of the Duomo and, in the distance beyond its spires, the buildings of Porta Nuova. From the living room, though, the scene changes to vistas of old Milan although, not far away, the skyscraper of the Velasca tower is an allusion to modernity. We are in Via Visconti di Modrone, right in the centre of the city. With two floors, four hundred square metres and a terrace for every room, there are views in every direction. The apartment belongs to a couple in their forties and their two children; they prefer to remain anonymous and leave the talking to their Architect and designer Giuseppe Chigiotti. «I combined two large apartments and totally redesigned them, with no concession to the 1960s setting of the building. The project plays on the linear character and on continuity between interior and exterior. The outside is ever-present, to the extent that it becomes an architectural element or even a natural decoration», he explains. Townscape apart, there is little decoration in these rooms; the owners love simplicity and clarity, with no frills. «I created a neutral box, with Italian walnut parquet flooring finished in a water-based paint to bring out the natural grain and then used the same timber for the purpose-made furniture. Everything else consists of plain white walls, including the functional furniture such as bookcases and cabinets, which are also an integral part of the architecture. The same applies to the services and to the concealed lights, which turn into simple illuminated recesses when switched on. There is some designer lighting as well though, by De Lucchi, Castiglioni and Chipperfield». Filling the box was easy; the design feels natural in an architectural environment like this. “Filling” may not be the most appropriate word here though, because it is the emptiness that dictates the tone. The (few) items of furniture chosen are mostly Made in Italy, from Driade, B&B Italia, Alias and De Padova. «I took the couple’s requirements on board and interpreted them; it was straightforward, partly because they had clear-cut ideas and partly because I had previously dealt with their pied-à-terre in Paris as well. They wanted the bedroom areas to be very private and in fact I retained the traditional Milanese arrangement for these, with a series of rooms leading off a long corridor. The walls took the form of a picture gallery for the owner’s collection of fine-art photos. A transparent glass staircase links the two floors and the living area upstairs is quite different, a single open space designed as a sociable area. This open floor plan accommodates the kitchen, dining room and living room. These are divided only by large sliding doors and walls that are used like curtains». When the weather is fine, entertaining moves onto the terrace where there is a large brick barbecue, surrounded by a herb garden. The planting reflects the owners’ aesthetic preferences too, no flowers but lots of evergreens that provide shade and give the impression of unending summer, even in winter. Whatever the season, the most instinctive thing to do in these rooms is to look outside – and it’s worth it.