It all began with the corner window.
The new owners of a Milan apartment fell in
love with the floor-to-ceiling aperture and
its unfettered view onto Corso Sempione. It was
one of the main reasons they sealed the deal
on the 160-square-metre space in a late-1960s
mid-rise building. To say that it draws light into
the living room is an understatement. The effect
is magnificent – and it’s rendered all the more so
by a luxurious marble surround installed by the
duo, Andrea Marcante and Adelaide Testa of
Turin studio Marcante Testa, hired for a post-
purchase redesign.
“One of the most important issues when we
came here for the first time was how to give value
to this window, to this corner,” says Marcante.
With the window as a prime focal point, the pair
conceived the interior in a series of layers, with
marble – in dramatically veined varieties – form-
ing the foundational layer.
The blue-veined Cipollino Tirreno that encases
the window stretches in linear slabs toward the
dining area, where inlaid brass outlines the transi-
tion to forest green Verde Alpi. (The designers
worked with Gio Ponti’s favourite supplier of
marble: Catella Fratelli, which the mid-century
architect praises in his book Amate l’architettura.)
In the dining area, the marble floor extends up to
partially clad the wall, creating a ledge into which
a shelving cabinet is recessed.
While the marble delineates the public zone’s
two main spaces like carpeting, an elaborate
brass-framed screen – made with glass and walnut
and featuring a diamond-shaped mirror at its
centre – divides the dining room from the cor-
ridor. But it does much more than evoke a sense
of privacy: It supports a credenza, filters light into
the corridor and, most idiosyncratically, features
brass “arms” that emphasize the home’s spaces.
“The arms are like arrows – indicators to take
one’s gaze toward the outside of the living area
or to connect the living area to the kitchen,”
explain the designers. “With its arms, the screen
is part of our research into creating space using
very small structures.”
If we follow the screen’s cue and take a few
steps down the corridor, we find a pocket door
leading into a tiny galley kitchen: On both sides,
the cabinetry is fronted in vibrant green laminate.
Yet the sink is the same powder blue marble as
the floor. It’s here that the designers’ wit shines
RIGHT: The floor-to-ceiling corner window inspired
the apartment’s interior design direction. OPPOSITE:
The space’s main organizational element, a bespoke
brass-framed screen featuring a diamond-shaped
mirror and a credenza (top), delineates the dining room,
furnished with Carl Hansen & Søn table and chairs.
The screen also filters light into the corridor (bottom left)
and accentuates the transition in flooring from the blue-
veined marble to forest-green Verde Alpi (bottom right).
060 _ _SEPT 2019