Ca’ Brutta: a private residence between memory and modernity

Location: Milan, Italy

Product:

Fabrique Graphit + Listone 140 Graphit Chevron Pattern 60°

Collection: NG Fabrique + Special Edition

Architects: Niccolò Menichini & Federica De leva

Year: 2025

dark oak parquet
dark oak parquet

Milan, a balance between past and present

In the heart of Milan, within the renowned Ca’ Brutta by Giovanni Muzio, a recent redesign of a private residence by architects Niccolò Menichini (Galante Menichini Architetti) and Federica De Leva (GBPA Architects) demonstrates how balancing historical preservation with innovation can give rise to new spatial languages.

Engaging with an icon of twentieth-century Milanese architecture, the project restores coherence to spaces transformed over time, harmonizing the materiality of the past with a contemporary gesture that respects and reinterprets it.

The main rooms face the perimeter, flooded with warm, diffused natural light, which has been intentionally enhanced. The new partitions avoid fragmentation, favoring visual and perceptual continuity instead: a fluid sequence of spaces that interact with one another, amplifying the sense of openness and breathing room.

The apartment’s most delicate element—a long service corridor running along the light well—has become the narrative centerpiece of the project. From a simple transitional space, it has been transformed into an experiential environment, dubbed “the corridor.”

The result is a domestic art gallery, a space where finishes, colors, and light create an ideal backdrop for artworks and installations, restoring dignity and centrality to what was once a residual area.

dark oak parquet
dark oak parquet

Among the most significant material choices are the Fabrique Graphit parquet and the Listone 140 Graphit in herringbone by Listone Giordano, elements that combine elegance, comfort, and environmental awareness. The deep, sophisticated finish interacts with light and pale surfaces, enhancing the perception of depth and continuity across the different spaces.

The choice of wood is not merely aesthetic: it represents a concrete commitment to a circular economy, thanks to the certified sourcing of raw materials and low-impact production processes. In this context, the flooring becomes a quiet manifesto of sustainability, integrating with the language of historical architecture without imposing itself, while contributing to the creation of a conscious contemporary comfort.

dark oak parquet
dark oak parquet

The restyling of the residence within Ca’ Brutta is therefore not just an exercise in interior design, but a cultural endeavor: a reflection on how contemporary architecture can inhabit history without imitating it, finding in respect its most authentic form of modernity.

dark oak parquet
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