Inspirations

Villa Necchi Campiglio

A jewel of 1930s architecture designed by avant-garde architect Piero Portaluppi. The villa, used as the extraordinary set for the film “I Am Love”, is today a great source of inspiration with its rationalist interiors, rich in art deco elements, as well as its virtuous relationship with nature, located right in the heart of Milan.

A famous architect, back then Piero Portaluppi left his indelible mark in Lombardy’s capital: from the Banca Commerciale, the Planetarium, and Palazzo Crespi, all the way to the design of the “Casa del sabato per gli sposi” (Home for Young Newlyweds) presented at the Fifth Triennale with BBPR, Umberto Sabbioni, and Luigi Santarella.

For the Necchi Campiglio family, who moved to Milan from Pavia, he was the right choice to help them build their home-manifesto, a testament to their place in the elegant 1930s Milanese industrial bourgeoisie, with grand spaces in which to entertain guests, a large garden with a tennis court, and a heated pool, the first in the city.

Villa Necchi Campiglio. Photo by arenaimmagini.it 2014 © FAI - Fondo Ambiente Italiano — Photo by arenaimmagini.it 2014 © FAI – Fondo Ambiente Italiano

In keeping with other avant-garde residences across Europe at the time (like Villa Empain in Brussels, designed by Michel Polak), this single-family home, built between 1932 and 1935, embraces the nuances of rationalism and of 20th century Milan.

The modernist details are tempered by art deco elements, which are present especially in the finishing touches, in the choice of quality marbles used for cladding, in the wainscoting, and in the sculptural doors. A complete work of art which goes beyond the mere architectural structure itself.

Bequeathed by the family to FAI (the Italian Environmental Fund) and open to the public since 2008, Villa Necchi Campiglio was rediscovered internationally when it was used as the set of the 2009 romantic drama “I Am Love”, starring Tilda Swinton and directed by Luca Guadagnino. The director was looking for “a very austere environment, neutral outside and decadent inside, severe yet at the same time warm and opulent”: Villa Necchi Campiglio met all of these requirements perfectly.

Glamora Diary Inspirations Villa Necchi Campiglio — Photo by Giorgio Majno 2008 © FAI – Fondo Ambiente Italiano

Some of the subjects of Glamora’s Creative Collection Chapter X are inspired by Villa Necchi Campiglio’s interiors and by the atmospheres which they evoke.

The various marble surfaces can be found in Convivium; the simple elegance of the environments accentuated by precious details in Lavish; the presence of nature which dominates the windowed veranda, conceived as a winter garden, in Amelié and Kama; and the austerity of the architecture in Spectrum. All are elements of a new decorativism, austere yet rich in suggestion, which examines the present while re-evaluating our memory of the past.