Villa Necchi Campiglio, Milan

A historic house-museum surrounded by a quiet garden, Villa Necchi Campiglio was built in Milan in the thirties by the town planner-architect Piero Portaluppi, commissioned by Nedda and Gigina Necchi and Angelo Campiglio, the latter's husband. Thought to be one of the most important examples of Italian Rationalism, the villa has preserved a significant part of the original furnishings together with an extraordinary art collection comprising works by some of the most important protagonists of the last century, including Claudia Gian Ferrari, Balla, Boccioni and De Chirico. The minimalist rooms, characterized by unusual shapes, testify to a radical breach with the precepts of Milanese upper-middle class luxury, which was still anchored to an 18th/19th century ideal. The veranda-conservatory is the most fascinating room in the villa, having been conceived as a green living room that creates continuity between the outdoor and indoor space, with two walls entirely windowed and adorned with plants. Here, Dedar textile creations adapt to the space with nonchalance, in an ambience poised between the classical and modern styles, filled to the brim with aristocratic decorative motifs and avant-garde geometric patterns. | Photo credit: Andrea Ferrari