Under a Frescoed Sky

About this project

The apartment that is the subject of this restoration project is located in Siena, right in the historic center, just a few hundred meters from Piazza del Campo. It is the result of the aggregation of rooms and spaces that once belonged to different buildings, constructed in different periods, which merged together over time. For this reason, it contains within it very disparate stylistic registers, which our project deliberately left separate and, at times, even in contrast with one another. During the works, we found spaces—especially in terms of height—that had been hidden behind false ceilings built hundreds of years ago, and which came back to light, revealing their most authentic nature. The refined interplay created by moving between these spaces with such different styles is the most interesting and fascinating feature of the apartment, making it absolutely unique and original. The entrance consists of the first distribution spaces, which revealed frescoes on the vaulted ceilings that had remained hidden for centuries beneath a thin layer of plaster. We brought these back to light, but deliberately left them undefined, without rigorous restoration, precisely because much of the information had been lost and could no longer be reconstructed. This almost unresolved quality, juxtaposed with newly created finishing materials of a contemporary nature, makes for a truly fascinating contrast. The entrance area also houses a guest bathroom finished in travertine and hand-painted majolica tiles, along with an open study nook furnished with antiques. All the main living spaces (living room, dining room, and kitchen), arranged in sequence in the part of the apartment facing the countryside, are characterized by large, regular rooms with ceilings frescoed in 18th- and 19th-century decorative styles. This is the part of the apartment that could be described as the "reception" area, with high ceilings lit by a cornice housing an LED uplight strip. The frescoes underwent a philological restoration carried out by a professional restorer, who brought their original colors back to light and retouched the missing sections. On the walls, the colors found beneath more recent layers of paint were restored—very refined, pastel tones steeped in a warm gray. The floors are newly built, featuring a French herringbone pattern in natural oak that runs uninterrupted through all the rooms. As for the furnishings, very contemporary pieces—such as the Grande Soffice sofa by Edra, the Teckwall bookcase by Riflessi, the Gullwing table by Lema, and the kitchen by Effeti—alternate with valuable antique pieces and some furnishings custom-designed for the apartment. The sleeping area opens through a door that divides an 18th-century space from a medieval one. The shift in style and language is sudden and surprising. One enters a wide corridor that serves two bedrooms and a bathroom, then turns at a right angle before transforming into an old medieval alleyway that had remained embedded within the apartment—its presence discovered only when we demolished a pre-existing reed-and-plaster false ceiling. This space has a light ochre-colored resin floor, and on the walls, ancient brickwork—once the walls of the alley itself—was brought back into view beneath several layers of plaster. "Wall wash" lighting effects lend theatricality to the masonry and highlight its ancient texture. In one of the bedrooms, the old wooden beam-and-tile ceiling structure was also exposed and brought into view, enhanced by the creation of a mezzanine with a clean, linear glass parapet. The custom-made furnishings beneath the mezzanine and the staircase enhance the whole, making it a refined and functional space. The internal medieval alley ends in a large walk-through wardrobe created with Poliform's Senzafine night system, featuring bronzed glass doors and canaletto walnut side panels. A spiral staircase leads to a volume on the upper floor used as a study and wardrobe area. The apartment concludes with yet another surprising shift in register: the master bedroom, with its en-suite bathroom. This generously sized room is completely frescoed, both on the vaulted ceiling and on the walls. The original color brought back to light is a beautiful sugar-paper blue with dove-gray and gold decorations. The Bed-in bed by Lago, with its wide and voluminous headboard, echoes the color of the decorations; the bedside tables are also by Lago, in wood and bronzed glass, while the wardrobe is Poliform's Senzafine with bronzed glass. The new French herringbone floor is in perfect harmony with the space and continues directly into the bathroom, where a light green sail vault echoes the tone of the hand-painted Pecchioli majolica tiles in shades of green. On the other walls, Mutina ceramics designed by Patricia Urquiola, with their elegant embossed pattern, serve as a backdrop to the suspended Lupi console in ribbed canaletto walnut. This project was truly stimulating. The difficulties were many, and the heterogeneity of the spaces could have proven a difficult obstacle to overcome. As sometimes happens, though, complexity often generates surprising results—helped, in this case, by a shared understanding of intent that developed with the client, who was always attentive and sensitive to every design idea, and patient in waiting nearly two years for a final result that was, in the end, so rewarding.