Step into the world of Molteni&C with the luxury brand’s new living concept created by Vincent Van Duysen. An evocative fluidity accompanies the light and versatile convivial spaciousness of this home defined by a deep sense of harmony of forms.
The space, presented at Milan Design Week, recalls the works of Walter Gropius – the new architecture opens the walls as if they were curtains to let in as much pure air, light, and sunshine as possible. The flow of natural light becomes a central aspect of the living experience modulating the perception and expression of the architectural composition.
The Fluid Spaces of Molteni&C
The home comes to life – in spaces that become warm and cozy – inviting a sense of comforting tranquility and warmth. Areas open up like a theater of life, allowing the quality of the environment to stand as a pivotal prerequisite to the design.
The space’s enchantingly versatile feeling of fluidity is multifunctional, adapting to the use of the spaces as it comes to life through Molteni&C’s wall systems, protagonists of the project, and an integral aspect of the architecture – a concept that provides the home with the ability to delight with continuous evolution.
A project that lightly hints at the roots of Modernism, taking on its own evocative language that cites atmospheres that are connected and spacious, an ensemble of fluid living and convivial rooms that interpenetrate both indoor and outdoor spaces like one fluid movement of an artist’s paintbrush.
Above all else, the project speaks to an extreme elegance devoid of any ostentation as of an end in itself – in harmony with the landscape that surrounds it – bending so gently to the concept of the great Finnish designer Alvar Aalto with spaces that in form express a content and that content is itself connected to Nature.
The Talent of Vincent Van Duysen
“The house aspires to holistic well-being and organic playfulness,” explains the world-famous Belgian architect Vincent Van Duysen, the Creative Director whose research in the concepts of lightness, ethereality, and fluidity brought the Molteni&C|Dada 2022 narrative project to life.
“It is an ode to a light design, inspired by the great examples of pavilions of the modernist era. Dynamic spaces characterized by the lightness of lines, cleverly combined with details and materials that create products with soft forms,” Van Duysen continues.
Like the great examples of villas of American modernism, Vincent van Duysen imagines a single-story house – in touch with the earth and with the outdoors. He thinks of dwellings through the optics of transparency, organized with light partitions and large openings to verandas and terraces outside: liminal spaces, free and suspended halfway between whole and open-air; private spaces that are simultaneously in direct contact with light and nature.
The defined style of the Molteni&C|Dada 2022 narrative project offers a decorative harmony of rounded, soft forms that are at once enveloping and balanced in a coherent space where each detail is part of a unifying principle that brings life to the home – thus calling for modular furniture and systems that become the protagonists in the organization of the rooms.
A dialogue between the structure and movable furnishings opens up allowing the pieces themselves to appear as solo objects in the interior of the home. They become a part of the architecture, merging with the building’s articulation and integrating new compositional possibilities that embrace existing architecture, like a fireplace, or provide for new integrations functions such as a bar or home office.
The Materials of a Living Home
Van Duysen imbues the collection with pure materials that are sensual and captivating – where light, textural woods, such as oak and eucalyptus, are presented with exposed grains or are carefully hand brushed, creating surfaces that are unique and alive to the touch.
He also prefers to work with fabrics that are light, earthy colors with textural interest that highlight the rounded shape of the upholstered furniture.
This preference is exactly how Dadirri by Marta Ferri was created – a project that the designer defines as – “A textile collection that aims to find an ideal combination between quiet contemplation and deep listening to the nature that surrounds us, a tribute to the warm tones of the earth and its infinite nuances. A harmonious gear that combines neutral tones, starting with grays, beige, and camel overlapping them in sharp contrast with bright colors such as moss yellow ochre green and rust.” This is what makes a home feel soft and true – furnished around itself, like a tailored suit.
“This year,” Van Duysen concludes, “the products were stimulated by a strong desire not to give up fluidity, sensuality, and comfort. The concept of comfort is also visually translated into the tactility of the materials. Our eye is guided on each curve while a great sense of calm emanates from the entire range. The notion of protection, of shelter, is very important in my work and I think the collection reflects that well. We are enveloped in these fluid forms as if we were inside a cocoon in which we would like to dwell permanently.”
Article by Liana Bicchieri