through. By contrasting the natural with
the artificial, the past with the contempo-
rary, they also show their dexterity with
material and colour palettes. Beyond the
kitchen is a cozy breakfast nook with a
cobalt-upholstered banquette crafted in
wood – its edge, like that of the kitchen
system, carved to create a rounded profile
that is then taken up by the lozenge pattern
of the high-contrast concrete floor tile.
Like the rest of the home, the bedrooms
are also almost entirely bespoke – their
painted-metal doors alone are worthy of
study. The custom wardrobes are covered
in Raf Simons–designed Kvadrat fabric
and the walls in an Hermès motif. The one
original detail the designers kept intact
was the parquet wood flooring, but they
couldn’t resist the urge to border it in blue
resin. “The important thing is that the
house has to be elegant, but, at same time,
a bit ironic. We don’t want to take ourselves
too seriously,” says Testa.
While the apartment may be curated to
the nth degree to achieve this balance,
it would be remiss to think of the atten-
tion to detail as mere fussiness. There are
big ideas at play. If we follow those arms
back to the living room and pry our eyes
away from the window and up to the
ceiling, we’ll find an abstract ceiling rose.
Marcante and Testa reference the Jungian
psychoanalyst James Hillman and his
complaint about modern ceilings – once
the domain of frescoed seraphim, now
the access point to maintenance systems –
as being a place where “the gods no longer
live.” Reminiscent of a sunburst, the plaster
motif is an unusual yet persuasive argu-
ment for ceiling sculpture. “It aims to
restore dignity and symbolic value to a
part of the building that is now the most
neglected in the field of interior design,”
the duo says. Even the last element one
would ever consider gets the Marcante
Testa treatment. marcante-testa.it
LEFT: The bedroom’s original parquet wood
flooring was kept intact – save for the addition
of a blue resin border. The wallpaper is by
Hermès. OPPOSITE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP
LEFT: A mix of humble and high-end materials,
including green laminate on the cabinetry and
vividly patterned Bisazza cement tile on the
floor, enliven the kitchen and breakfast nook.
Grigio Salomé marble surrounds amber-coloured
glass basin sinks in the bathroom. Kvadrat
fabric designed by Raf Simons fronts custom
wardrobes. A vibrant glass-and-painted-metal
door frame leads into a bedroom.SEPT 2019_ _ 063