NOA styles the launch of the Silente Collection in collaboration with lapiegaWD and Lichtstudio.
In NOA’s design practice, the creation of concepts frequently emerges on different scales: from architecture to interior design to furniture.
The designs for the Valentinerhof, Zallinger, and Silena accommodations are prime illustrations of this. The same approach was adopted for the Monastero restoration and expansion project, whose acclaimed success prompted the studio to make available to design lovers the specially designed product line, which can be purchased through a dedicated shop.
Curating a design concept on different scales is the ambitious challenge faced by the NOA collective of architects and interior designers to give depth and coherence to each of its creations.
To do so, the studio has been committed to building a network of professionals capable of bringing added value to the project, collaborating over the years with artisans, manufacturers and product designers.
A tangible example of this modus operandi is the Hotel Valentinerhof, for which NOA cooperated with master glassmaker Jakob Maurer in the creation of hanging glass installations that adorn the lobby. More recently, collaboration with sculptor David Gasser has resulted in two stone fountains, which find a home in the Olympic and Apfelhotel Torgglerhof projects.
Consistent with this overall approach to the project is also the Hotel Monastero Arx Vivendi in Arco, on Lake Garda, completed in 2021 and already awarded numerous prizes for its ancient charm and unique history. The project involved a decommissioned cloistered convent dating back to the 17th century: the monumental spaces of the monastery were converted into a hotel of maximum comfort without, however, losing the muffled atmospheres of the ancient monk cells and the peaceful and meditative atmosphere of the garden where the new spa is located.
For this project, NOA designed and made three custom-made furnishings in collaboration with outside companies: a set of lamps and a table with seating. Such was the resonance of the project and the enthusiasm of the guests that the studio was inspired to reproduce these design pieces and make them available for purchase on its website.
NOA Silent Lamps
Interior designer Niccolò Panzani explains, “The public spaces of the Monastery have a formal rigor and majesty that mirror the era and context for which it was built. In the design of the new lamps, on the other hand, we sought a strong contrast through lines with a strong contemporary edge, but still adhering to the concept of geometric rigidity, essentiality and monochrome.”
The lamps are made of black powder-coated galvanized steel and are characterized by a large circular plate on which the bulb is grafted, exposed; they resemble the ecclesiastical hat known as “Saturn,” in an emblematic play of references with respect to the context in which they are placed.
They are found in both common spaces and rooms and come in four variations: free-standing, pendant, used to illuminate the large table in the former refectory, wall-mounted, in single-lamp or double-lamp versions. The latter type is particularly suitable for enhancing historic vaults and ceilings, as well as for bringing light to the upper part of the room. The lamps were developed and produced between South Tyrol and Veneto in cooperation with Lichtstudio, a lighting design company based in Merano.
Silente NOA Table and Chair
One of the most fascinating spaces in the design of the Monastery is the inner garden, bordered by an 8 m high perimeter wall, which replaces the more usual cloister and best embodies the peaceful atmosphere of the former convent.
Between the garden and the monastery’s perimeter wall is the course of an irrigation ditch with a restored old mill, a colonnade and a covered terrace, where, in fine weather, guests are invited to sit and have breakfast outdoors.
The Silente chair and table are designed for this context, and are the result of a collaboration between NOA and Enrico Girotti, founder of lapiegaWD.
“Even for the outdoor furniture, we favored an essential design and monochromatic uniformity: black metal tables and chairs create a pleasant contrast with the lime-colored plaster of the wall that forms the background. The metal worked as a wire that coils on itself, the identity mark of the lapiegaWD brand, contributes to the cleanliness of forms and aesthetic rigor,” clarifies interior designer Niccolò Panzani.
From the collaboration between NOA and lapiegaWD have taken shape: the Silente chair, marked by a single line, a continuous element with no end and no beginning, formed by the metal wire that describes its entire figure without ever interrupting, graphically reworking the concept of infinity; the Silente outdoor table, made from a sequence of metal wires shaped to achieve an austere design, in line with the place where it is housed, available with a rectangular or round top.
Photo: Alex Filz