Milan Apartment Pays Tribute to 40 Years of the Memphis Group
An Italian architect nods to the work of Ettore Sottsass and celebrates the collective that transformed design thinking
Among the fine Art Nouveau buildings in the Porta Venezia neighbourhood of Milan is an apartment whose door opens to an exuberant and colourful world: the extravagant universe of the Memphis Group. Forty years have passed since the collective of architects and designers, known for its colourful and iconoclastic postmodern design, was formed on Dec. 11, 1980. Studio Paradisiartificiali celebrated this anniversary with a one-room project that channels the Memphis style and features a rebus puzzle on one wall.
A professional bought this small duplex apartment to serve as his pied-à-terre when he’s in Milan on business. While the upper floor is reserved for private rooms, the lower level is a hybrid public-private space, a sort of lounge for meeting guests and customers.
“The project originated in the client’s request to redesign a staircase only,” says Lorenzo De Nicola of Studio Paradisiartificiali. “This was to replace a very impractical spiral staircase, which had previously twisted over more than 4 meters from one story to the next.”
“The project originated in the client’s request to redesign a staircase only,” says Lorenzo De Nicola of Studio Paradisiartificiali. “This was to replace a very impractical spiral staircase, which had previously twisted over more than 4 meters from one story to the next.”
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“After the work had already begun, we accidentally came across the Memphis Group’s Wikipedia page, discovering that the well-known movement was born in Ettore Sottsass’ home on the evening of Dec. 11, 1980,” De Nicola says.
The story goes that Sottsass was entertaining a circle of designer and architect friends in his Milan apartment. As they debated how to overturn the status quo of the design industry and hatched a plan to come together as a collective, Bob Dylan’s song Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again played in the background. Thus the Memphis Group was born, referring to both the ancient Egyptian city and the home of Elvis Presley – a term that links history and elite culture to modern pop. That evening kicked off a cultural phenomenon that revolutionised design thinking.
Paradisiartificiali wanted to leverage this discovery into something special: “We had to try to interpret the space that was entrusted to us as a real celebration of this important anniversary: 40 years since the birth of the Memphis Group!” De Nicola says.
Home Styles: Why Postmodernism Still Matters
The story goes that Sottsass was entertaining a circle of designer and architect friends in his Milan apartment. As they debated how to overturn the status quo of the design industry and hatched a plan to come together as a collective, Bob Dylan’s song Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again played in the background. Thus the Memphis Group was born, referring to both the ancient Egyptian city and the home of Elvis Presley – a term that links history and elite culture to modern pop. That evening kicked off a cultural phenomenon that revolutionised design thinking.
Paradisiartificiali wanted to leverage this discovery into something special: “We had to try to interpret the space that was entrusted to us as a real celebration of this important anniversary: 40 years since the birth of the Memphis Group!” De Nicola says.
Home Styles: Why Postmodernism Still Matters
Before: The ground-floor room overlooks a small courtyard, and it doesn’t get much natural light. Its small size – just 161 square feet – combined with a ceiling height of about 14 feet led the architects to imagine a “staircase that is extremely light, airy and self-supporting thanks to the simple play of its folds.”
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After: With the help of stair company CPR Scale, the team opted for a staircase made of a continuous sheet of 10-millimetre-thick metal, bent into steps and powder-coated with a durable epoxy. A sheet of extra-clear tempered glass stands between the two flights to support and give cohesion to the piece.
Trust between client and architects led to a holistic vision for the renovation. “Realising that the need was not just to replace a staircase but to create a sense of place, we chose to completely rethink the ground floor,” De Nicola says.
Like the Memphis Group, Paradisiartificiali likes to mix different products and styles, both in terms of aesthetic references and composition and in the choice of furniture. “We always find it very interesting to draw on companies with different [style and socioeconomic] identities,” De Nicola says.
“So while a mysterious ear [a Caruso sideboard by Miniforms] is ready to listen to what happens in the room, a set of archaic armchairs [Pipe by Moroso] seek to give substance to the ritual of hospitality. The ’80s aesthetic references are also the protagonists in the textiles, where geometric graphics and saturated colours [Fatsia, Sequoia and Louisiane pillows by Maisons du Monde and a Lustrup carpet by Ikea] combine with the velvety sensuality of a large and elegant pearl grey pouf [Eline by Maisons du Monde]. Finally, a handful of white ‘pebbles’ [Gregg wall lamp by Foscarini], along with a coloured ‘bowling pin’ [Callimaco floor lamp by Artemide], illuminate a space that finds its ‘North Star’ [in the star-like Hsing vase by Sottsass for Sarri Ceramiche, at the top of the large niche].”
Design Through the Decades: The 1980s
“So while a mysterious ear [a Caruso sideboard by Miniforms] is ready to listen to what happens in the room, a set of archaic armchairs [Pipe by Moroso] seek to give substance to the ritual of hospitality. The ’80s aesthetic references are also the protagonists in the textiles, where geometric graphics and saturated colours [Fatsia, Sequoia and Louisiane pillows by Maisons du Monde and a Lustrup carpet by Ikea] combine with the velvety sensuality of a large and elegant pearl grey pouf [Eline by Maisons du Monde]. Finally, a handful of white ‘pebbles’ [Gregg wall lamp by Foscarini], along with a coloured ‘bowling pin’ [Callimaco floor lamp by Artemide], illuminate a space that finds its ‘North Star’ [in the star-like Hsing vase by Sottsass for Sarri Ceramiche, at the top of the large niche].”
Design Through the Decades: The 1980s
The reinterpreted wall niches serve a playful purpose: They create a rebus puzzle in Italian that reads, “Tribute to Ettore Sottsass.”
In Paradisiartificiali’s designs, “graphic elements are rarely interpreted as simple decorative features,” De Nicola says. “On the contrary, they are transformed into an alphabet of significant signs.” In this sense, the iconography of the rebus puzzle isn’t here merely for visual interest, but to communicate a message by merging space and imagery.
Read more:
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Tell us:
What do you think about this home? We want to know.
In Paradisiartificiali’s designs, “graphic elements are rarely interpreted as simple decorative features,” De Nicola says. “On the contrary, they are transformed into an alphabet of significant signs.” In this sense, the iconography of the rebus puzzle isn’t here merely for visual interest, but to communicate a message by merging space and imagery.
Read more:
Colour Used As Architecture in Milan Flat Inspired by Corbusier
Tell us:
What do you think about this home? We want to know.
Room at a Glance
Who lives here: A professional who commutes between Milan and Padua, Italy
Where: Porta Venezia area of Milan
Room size: 161 square feet (15 square metres)
Architect: Studio Paradisiartificiali