The project ‘via Manzoni 38’ in Milan by Studio CaberlonCaroppi represents a new challenge for the Milanese studio, which mainly deals with hotels.
The Real Estate Città Moderna, in turn usually active in residential real estate operations, was looking for something original. Its initial goal was to transform a space, a large cubic building with a double view on via Manzoni and via Borgospesso, where first-rate luxury brands and commercial businesses were present on the ground floor as renters, and to realize high-level residential units to be sold to wealthy Clients of the Milanese milieu. Finally, the decision was to turn this property into office units.
"They liked our project - says Chiara Caberlon - and we got the assignment. The task was challenging, considering that we had to proceed with the redevelopment of all the interior spaces that had been strongly affected by interventions in the ‘70s with improbable finishes and it was necessary to give elegance and prestige at the entrance of the property. Our assignment was later expanded with the study of the facade lighting, which was carried out with an internal lighting designer. In this sense, the concept is very interesting and innovative, because we will realize the first historic building with a dynamic light on facade "
The Real Estate Città Moderna, in turn usually active in residential real estate operations, was looking for something original. Its initial goal was to transform a space, a large cubic building with a double view on via Manzoni and via Borgospesso, where first-rate luxury brands and commercial businesses were present on the ground floor as renters, and to realize high-level residential units to be sold to wealthy Clients of the Milanese milieu. Finally, the decision was to turn this property into office units.
"They liked our project - says Chiara Caberlon - and we got the assignment. The task was challenging, considering that we had to proceed with the redevelopment of all the interior spaces that had been strongly affected by interventions in the ‘70s with improbable finishes and it was necessary to give elegance and prestige at the entrance of the property. Our assignment was later expanded with the study of the facade lighting, which was carried out with an internal lighting designer. In this sense, the concept is very interesting and innovative, because we will realize the first historic building with a dynamic light on facade "
This system will be run by a device whereby, during the dark hours, the facade will light up starting from the center and going higher until you get a total illumination of the facade. This particular effect gives great dynamism to all architectural aspects of this nineteenth-century facade, linking them with various and different events, such as those of the Milan fashion and design week and other events in the city.
A wing system will be built, in collaboration with Penta, which created a section dedicated to architectural lighting. Small profiles have been created that can fit in the string courses inserted in the architectural details of the facade, so as not to have to intervene with holes or passages and to be able to keep the same color of the facade that is being repainted. An experience that led to the interesting outcome of creating scenarios, starting from the underlining of the architectural elements during an evening, with a sustainable cost and a minimal visual impact.
"We approached the project with this spirit - comments Chiara Caberlon - starting from the outside towards the inside, focusing our work also on the common areas without personality and transforming everything in a more modern sense ".
Moving from the facade on via Manzoni to the one on via Borgospesso
It was a project-in-progress leading to the reopening of some windows that had been closed. Later on, the space will be completed with a plant of important dimensions, perhaps a magnolia. An 'ancient' flooring made of stones will also be repositioned.
The approach to the interior is very respectful: poor finishes had been added over the years, through operations that did not take into account the value of the building. The Client wants to bring it back to a prestige level, obviously with an eye on the budget, asking for solutions that are something in between the past and the future, keeping a distance from certain historical periods in which no attention was paid to anything other than standardized practices, without any connection with the place.
Next to the historic staircase there were klinker tiles and there were Venetian terraces with linoleum. Everything belonging to that past had to be eliminated.
"In via Manzoni - concludes Chiara Caberlon - we had to find the ‘glue’ between various ages, and we decided to look for materials still characterized by a link with history: we are talking about marbles, we are bringing inside a green marble that recalls details already existing inside the building, we removed steel and inserted brass, which is warmer. These finishes of the past have been revised in a modern key. Considering that three quarters of renters are related to the world of fashion, we wanted to express a dynamic space, a truly 'fashion' space, because our projects must also speak about us, with a modern, contemporary language in the spirit of those materials, that mostly suit to the essence of the building."
The project will be completed by the end of 2020.
A wing system will be built, in collaboration with Penta, which created a section dedicated to architectural lighting. Small profiles have been created that can fit in the string courses inserted in the architectural details of the facade, so as not to have to intervene with holes or passages and to be able to keep the same color of the facade that is being repainted. An experience that led to the interesting outcome of creating scenarios, starting from the underlining of the architectural elements during an evening, with a sustainable cost and a minimal visual impact.
"We approached the project with this spirit - comments Chiara Caberlon - starting from the outside towards the inside, focusing our work also on the common areas without personality and transforming everything in a more modern sense ".
Moving from the facade on via Manzoni to the one on via Borgospesso
It was a project-in-progress leading to the reopening of some windows that had been closed. Later on, the space will be completed with a plant of important dimensions, perhaps a magnolia. An 'ancient' flooring made of stones will also be repositioned.
The approach to the interior is very respectful: poor finishes had been added over the years, through operations that did not take into account the value of the building. The Client wants to bring it back to a prestige level, obviously with an eye on the budget, asking for solutions that are something in between the past and the future, keeping a distance from certain historical periods in which no attention was paid to anything other than standardized practices, without any connection with the place.
Next to the historic staircase there were klinker tiles and there were Venetian terraces with linoleum. Everything belonging to that past had to be eliminated.
"In via Manzoni - concludes Chiara Caberlon - we had to find the ‘glue’ between various ages, and we decided to look for materials still characterized by a link with history: we are talking about marbles, we are bringing inside a green marble that recalls details already existing inside the building, we removed steel and inserted brass, which is warmer. These finishes of the past have been revised in a modern key. Considering that three quarters of renters are related to the world of fashion, we wanted to express a dynamic space, a truly 'fashion' space, because our projects must also speak about us, with a modern, contemporary language in the spirit of those materials, that mostly suit to the essence of the building."
The project will be completed by the end of 2020.
