< PreviousELLOSGU ARDO ( ‘ BEA UTIFUL VIEW’ IN ITALIAN) is a chic hilltop en- clave of Florence, a short stroll from the south bank of the river Arno, and the smattering of houses enjoy a postcard-worthy view, despite being just a few min- utes from Florence’s lively historic Oltrarno quarter. The home renovation shown on these pages is respectful of history (the Tus- can capital’s regulations around preserving period architecture are famously tough) but the shell of the building is all that remains; the interiors have been to- tally redesigned, but without changing the existing volumes. “We already had a house here and had been looking for a larger one for some time,” explains the owner of the house, a textile manufacturer who supplies the likes of Zara & H&M. He shares the house with wife and two children. “Then, in 2013, we came across this place. We thought the building was quite ugly actually, but we fell in love with the location. So, we bought it and started a long project that led to how it looks now.” After having consulted various designers, they decided to go with the Milan- based Dimore Studio, which blends retro-tinged nostalgia with an avant garde edge. It’s a formula that’s seen its co-founders, Britt Moran and Emiliano Salci, feted around the world. “The idea they proposed – a scheme that spoke of histo- ry, linked to the location – immediately convinced us,” the owner adds. The inspiration was a precise moment in the architectural history of Florence, when courageous and unconventional villas arose during the Fifties and Sixties. Other references were added to the visual mix, including nods to mid-century Italian design heroes Carlo Scarpa and Osvaldo Borsani. Although the homeowners fell for Dimore Studio’s vision instantly, realising it was much more time consuming and challenging. The building works were com- plicated to execute: fi rstly because the existing proportions had to be respected to the centimetre (the only exception permitted was the roof, where sloping pitches have been replaced with terraces), and secondly because the slope of the B ABOVE: A Venini lamp, a 1960s French desk and a Dimore Milano étagère in the offi ce. AD_033_108-115_Arena_Florence Dimore_11280096.indd 11024/06/2020 10:48:57 PM111 A custom table and 18th-century English chairs in the dining room. RIGHT: The striking walnut, glass and brass staircase. AR E N A/ F lor enc e The decor is a contemporary take on Italian Modernism. LEFT: A colourful guest bedroom features Dimore Milano fabics. AD_033_108-115_Arena_Florence Dimore_11280096.indd 11124/06/2020 10:49:14 PM112 AR E N A/ F lor enc e AD_033_108-115_Arena_Florence Dimore_11280096.indd 11224/06/2020 10:49:30 PMAD_033_108-115_Arena_Florence Dimore_11280096.indd 11324/06/2020 11:11:56 PMIn the kitchen, black Mattiazzi bar stools contrast with the limestone kitchen island. Custom made pale green tiles echo the the garden view. A Gubi pendant hangs above an Agostino & Brown dining table. 000 AR E N A/ F lor enc e AD_033_108-115_Arena_Florence Dimore_11280096.indd 11424/06/2020 10:49:52 PM73 terrain is so marked that at some point it seemed more practical to get the mate- rials to the construction site using a helicopter (an idea that was abandoned). Dimore Studio’s fi rst step was to reimagine the facade of a building, creating a ‘skin’ in stone and concrete with metallic details. “We wanted to create a connec- tion between two different worlds: the rural modernism of the post-war Floren- tine school and Scarpa’s obsessive attention to detail,” explains Moran, a North Carolina native who met Salci on a hotel project in China in 2003. The 600 sq/m villa, was completed in 2018 after a three-year renovation, and is now framed with landscaping by Lorenzo Venturini of Dimensione Verde, who took colour and textural cues from the house. Inside, the layout – on three fl oors – is centred around a double level living space, a typical detail of the Sixties. It reminded the designers of the iconic villa in Varedo designed by Osvaldo Borsani for his parents, from which they took in- spiration for the spectacular central staircase. “The original one wa s a modest structure and the owners wanted a more dra- matic element instead,” adds Moran. “We came up with a sort of cage made from three large metal and glass panels, marked by horizontal planes with sliding pan- els inspired by a Charlotte Perriand bookcase.” Porcelli describes the choice of furniture – a blend of the owners’ and design- ers’ tastes – as ‘refi ned eclecticism’: a set of antique Chinese chairs sits alongside classic pieces from the 1940s onwards and various contemporary creations by Dimorestudio, from their Progetto Non Finito collection. “We wanted to give our own version of Sixties taste, keeping elements of contrast,” says Moran. Opulent patterns, jewel-like colours (sapphire, ruby, emerald) and precious details (silk-lined walls, embroidered doors) provide the fi nishing touches. The upshot is an unassuming shell with a fascinating personality. It goes to prove that you really shouldn’t ever judge a book by its cover dimorestudio.eu ABOVE: The slick, brushed-steel kitchen cabinets channel a Sixties Space Age vibe. OPPOSITE PAGE: Also in the sitting room, a Paavo Tynell lamp and a Knoll Platner stool beside a Dimore Milano sofa. 115 AR E N A/ F lor enc e AD_033_108-115_Arena_Florence Dimore_11280096.indd 11524/06/2020 10:50:04 PMThe premier digital destination for design inspiration admiddleeast.com ADMIDDLEEASTADMIDDLEEASTADMIDDLEEASTARCHITECTURAL DIGEST MIDDLE EAST AD_80_New House ad_11197021.indd 8029/03/2020 03:11:03 PM117 “IMAGINE ENTERING AN ANCIENT CITY THAT’S SO WELL-PRESERVED YOU FEEL AS IF YOU HAVE TRAVELLED BACK IN TIME” Escape 122122 PH OTO : L A Z IZ HAMAN I AD_033_117_Escape_Opener_11310140.indd 11724/06/2020 10:50:59 PMThe French architect Fernand Pouillon built a prolific body of work in Algeria over forty years. It is being celebrated again, thanks to an intrepid photographer African Adventure Words Christian Simenc Photography Leo Fabrizio AD_033_118-121_Escape_Pouillon Algeria_11285429.indd 11824/06/2020 10:52:09 PMES C A P E / F la s h b a ck 119 Rule-breaking can (sometimes) be a good thing. It was because he decided to leave the confi nes of his hotel one evening in Algiers, when he was strongly advised against it, that the Swiss photographer Léo Fabrizio discovered something that would become a passion project. “It was in 2012,” he recalls. “I had come to Algeria to document the construction of the new Swiss embassy and during one of my night time strolls, I discovered the buildings of the Diar el-Mahçoul. Lamp posts lit the stone in a magnifi cent orange halo. It was a revelation for me. And the beginning of a long-term adventure.” This creative ‘adventure’ was documenting the extraordinary range of buildings in Algeria by the French architect Fernand Pouillon (1912-1986), whose prolifi c output in the country (and later, Iran) is poorly documented. It was through its mayor, Jacques Chevallier, that Fernand Pouillon received an invitation to go to Algiers and become chief architect of the city. The city council sought to solve two problems: to eliminate the slums of the casbah – and allegedly to make the area more policeable by the French – and deal with a demographic explosion. Pouillon landed in the Algerian capital on May 8, 1953. “At noon, I was responsible for making 3,000 dwellings, at fi ve o'clock in the evening, to make 8,000. This is an adventure that rarely happens in life,” he said. Pouillon was commissioned to develop three residential complexes: Diar el Mahçoul, Diar es-Saada (“The City of Happiness”) overlooking the Bay of Algiers, and Climat de France, nicknamed The 200 columns because of its many pillars. “I wanted men to have a kind of monument,” he wrote, “Given that these were very small apartments, made for very poor people, I wanted the monumen- tal spirit to enter their lives.” ABOVE FROM TOP: The tourist complex Tipasa-Club, Tipasa; the grande salon at the Hotel El-Riad in Sidi Fredj. OPPOSITE PAGE: The facade of the Hotel El-Riad. AD_033_118-121_Escape_Pouillon Algeria_11285429.indd 11924/06/2020 10:52:19 PMNext >