Designer Maria Vittoria Paggini has used colourful wallpaper and murals depicting nude bodies concealed behind peepholes to transform her home for Milan design week.
Located in the 5vie design district in the heart of the city, Casa Ornella is annually redesigned by Vittoria Paggini who presents the project during Milan design week.
This year, the property – which is also partly an art gallery, is themed “porno-chic”.
“Casa Ornella is a maximalist house” said the designer, who is opening up her home to the public during the week.
“Porno-chic stems from a strong need for rediscovery and self-awareness. To achieve this, I felt the need to bare myself and decided to use the metaphor of the naked body, pushing it to the extreme to make it invisible to the eyes,” she told Dezeen.
“Going beyond that, porno-chic aims to be a style of ‘rebirth,’ a recognition of oneself through the home or any place to inhabit.”
The interiors feature a living space characterised by artist Tatiana Brodatch’s striking wallpaper. Oversized spots and stripes in pink and purple hues form the backdrop for images of faceless, nude male sculptures touching themselves.
Finished in Brodatch’s signature lumpy plasticine, the figures look like they are flying through space.
Two boothlike, art deco armchairs with burl wood casing were positioned next to this feature wall, as well as a translucent table designed by Vittoria Paggini and topped with twisting, marble and Murano glass candelabras by Aina Kari.
Visitors can see Brodatch’s wallpaper through a circular peephole on one of the corridors, which adds to the “sensual” atmosphere of the home, according to the designer.
Elsewhere, brown curtains illustrated with naked female bodies and a small but suggestive figurative sculpture sitting on a silver tray are reflected in a swollen gold mirror.
One corridor is characterised by a large-scale floor mural of a nude woman, created as a set of abstract brown and pink shapes.
The only room not open to the public is the bedroom, which is decorated with a graphic, floor-to-ceiling mural of naked men surrounded by decadent architecture, influenced by 13th-century paintings.
Visitors can view the bedroom mural, created by Milanese illustrator Damiano Groppi, through another peephole.
Sugary pink walls, striped and chequerboard accents and multiple mirrored surfaces throughout the home add to its maximalist design.
Casa Ornella also includes two more Vittoria Paggini-designed products, which are being debuted for the design week and take cues from “the world of jewellery”.
These are bulbous gold taps created for Milanese brand Manoli – positioned above veiny Gio Ponti basins in the bathroom – and slender light switches designed for Officine Morelli.
According to Vittoria Paggini, these pieces are “what is most characteristic of the porno-chic style”.
“They serve two different functions but have the same language that aims to communicate sensuality and timeless elegance.”
The annual Milan design week has kicked off in the Italian city, with projects on display ranging from a collection of everyday objects designed using algae and sculptural lights by Leo Maher that reference “a hot-pot of queer culture”.
The photography is courtesy of Maria Vittoria Paggini.
Casa Ornella is on display at Via Conca di Naviglio 10, Milan, during Milan Design Week from 15 to 21 April 2024. See Dezeen Events Guide for more architecture and design events around the world.
Source: Rooms - dezeen.com
