In Milan, in the splendid setting of Palazzo Morando, Elle Decor Italia rethinks the concept of hotellerie. The project, this year entrusted to Neri&Hu Design studio, rediscovers the value of sharing, uniting East and West starting with Italo Calvino’s “Invisible Cities.”
Public and private. East and West. Classic and contemporary.
These are some of the challenges taken up by the third edition of Elle Decor Grand Hotel Milano, which returns to once again rethink the concept of haute hotellerie.
After Piero Lissoni and Patricia Urquiola in 2016 and Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel in 2017, this year’s project to rearrange the rooms of Palazzo Morando was entrusted to Neri & Hu Design and Research Office, based in Shanghai and London.
Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu, grappling with a project in Italy for the first time, drew their inspiration from Italo Calvino ‘s novel Invisible Cities, published in 1972 and which has become a source of inspiration for more than a generation of architects over the years.
Thus was born “Invisible rooms,” the innovative visual and conceptual journey that attempts to redefine the traditional idea of hotels. An opportunity to reflect on the new instances and functions ofhospitality.
The two designers develop a web of hidden rooms, creating unexpected and immersive situations. New experiences for the curious spectator looking for insights but especially for the traveler who finds something of himself in each environment.
The Eastern vision of spaces blends with theWestern imprint of design. Welcoming and sharing become the main pillars in the construction of this pop-up hotel.
The itinerary, consisting of nine rooms, follows the structure of the novel, according to the names of the invisible cities described by Calvin’s Marco Polo.
Neri&Hu imagine an itinerary that becomes a multi-layered narrative, capable of astounding the 21st century traveler who questions the meaning of living and dwelling today.
Welcoming visitors are the three lounge lounges enclosed within a geometric metal structure and shrouded in dense vegetation.
Suspended lamps enliven the sky of the rooms. Thus, small bright birds seem to hover in the air. They are the Yanzi lamps, designed by Neri&Hu in 2017 for Artemide.
Even the furniture items are mostly signed by the two designers. For example, the Ren armchair made for Poltrone Frau in 2017 or the Cradle sofa produced in the same year by Arflex.
The presence of historical pieces, which are also perfectly functional for today’s needs, does not jar at all. Here are glimpses of Le Corbusier’s Stool stools , reissued by Cassina in 1952.
The Restaurant area follows. A long aisle, marked by a string of classical arches, is occupied entirely by a long custom convivial table designed by Neri&Hu for Poliform. An open kitchen, also open daily for visitors, closes the environment.
A small open-air garden emerges between the arches, echoing the shapes of the interior and housing large bamboo plants and oriental lamps specially designed by the two architects: the Denglong model by Parachilna.
It is a dark corridor that leads the guest to the most private area of this new hotel envisioned by Neri&Hu.
A contrast of black and white dominates the Meeting Room. In the center stands a double seat, a reinterpretation of one designed by Fritz Hansen.
Contrasts and paradoxes are reconciled under the banner of mediation and encounter.
There is no shortage of a room dedicated to Cinema, where a series of small stools, again designed by Neri&Hu design, make space within a forest of wooden columns.
One immediately finds oneself immersed in a traditional Chinese courtyard, at the same time breathing in the air of a typical Lombard farmhouse.
Another long corridor, illusorily multiplied by a long series of mirrors, leads to the camera-voyeur, the Suite, marked by softer lines.
What should be the most intimate and private place becomes a window to the outside world, with the bathroom opening directly onto the sidewalks of the metropolis.
The private becomes public, reversing the traditional view and function of environments and satisfying the voyeuristic desire of visitors and passersby.
Along with the various furnishings designed by Neri&Hu, Gio Ponti’s Labirinto rug also stands out, taking us back, without even realizing it, to 1926.
It is two common spaces that close the path.
First is the Library, where the presence of the Bookcase Ren bookcase for Poltrone Frau helps recreate the atmosphere of a private home. Each object seems to represent the identity of its inhabitant. Suggestive NH pendant lamps again for Artemide.
Finally, the Store. An Oriental Wunderkammer that looks simultaneously at Persian bazaars and old Milanese workshops. Once again encounters of cultures, between tea cans and design pieces by Sergio Asti, Cini Boeri, and Enzo Mari.
At the end of the path, one once again returns to contact with the outdoors. The City and the Sky meet, just as East and West continue their dialogue, this time thanks to the outdoor space.
We do not know whether this edition of Elle Decor Grand Hotel Milano also fully succeeded in its intent to resignify the contemporary hotellerie.
Certainly both the traveler and the visitor come away enriched, with new insights to make everyday environments their own.
“Invisible Room” can be visited daily on St. Andrew Street. October 5 to 21, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Free admission.
