A half-hour drive north of Milan’s centre is the thriving industrial hub of Legnano, the hometown of multi-talented designer Derek Castiglioni, and the location of his latest project.
The compact retreat – more of a suite than an apartment – is his escape from the bustle of the big city, but also brings his love of architecture full circle. After graduating with a BA in Architecture from Politecnico di Milano, he had taken another path, designing gardens for his family business, then furniture collections for Nilufar Gallery.
‘This is my first 360-degree architectural project,’ says Castiglioni of the reimagining of a 1960s office building belonging to the family. ‘I liked the idea of having a space that spoke of my identity but, at the same time, I wanted to create a dialogue between my work and the language of other designers. It’s an open-ended discourse that is meant to evolve in time with design pieces that come and go.’
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Inside the apartment, minimal but effective interventions define key areas. Screens separate the kitchen and bedroom from the living room, while glossy-yellow cabinets run the entire length of the home, creating continuity. Only the bathroom is not in view, concealed behind the mirrored wall in the living room. A mirror at the opposite end of the space acts as the headboard for the space-age tubular steel bed – a one-of-a-kind piece by Derek.
The bas-relief lines on the ceiling were inspired by Gio Ponti’s Villa Planchart in Caracas, while the palette of green and yellow was influenced by the walls of a private villa designed by Carlo Scarpa.
‘Everything in this home is my way of modernising and reinterpreting elements that come from my main reference points of the 1960s,’ Derek explains. ‘I look to the past and bring it forward to today. I have always used the same approach in designing furniture and gardens.’
Many of the items the designer has chosen for this home display a strong materiality and a sculptural quality – the brutalist cement desk he created himself, the modern bedside table by Duccio Maria Gambi or recycled-foam ‘Clouds’ sofa by Iammi Studio.
The latter was sculpted on-site, its creation a live performance in itself, with foam flying everywhere. It was left unfinished (without the layer of primer that gives durability), as Derek loves the texture of the raw material.
‘My wish is that this apartment, when I’m not here, should be lived in by others,’ he declares. ‘It could be creatives who participated in the project, artists who would like to insert their works or simply enthusiasts who want to experience collectible design in a more intimate setting. Every year at Milan design week, I feel you experience these amazing emotions as you visit beautiful installations, but there’s always a bit of a disconnect, as they’re not truly lived-in environments. I really tried to address that here.’ derekcastiglioni.com
