area 103+ | extra ordinary

architect: Arassociati

location: Milan, Italy

year: 2009

The new extension of the Starhotel Rosa in Piazza Fontana, designed by Studio Arassociati, is a very particular intervention involving re-stitching the historical urban fabric in a strategic point for the architectural equilibrium of the new square and monumental elements with which it comes into relation. The interior and exterior of this building narrate diverse and complex stories, on one hand, the sobriety of a public architecture, and on the other, the necessary softness and pleasurable hospitality of a more private world of rapports: architecture and spaces which dilate the continuity of history, pursuing a sober and peaceful modernity in the rapport of elements and materials. The façades overlooking Via Patteri and Piazza Fontana have a vertical and horizontal composition, uniform and coordinating with the rest of the building which completes the square. Built totally in stone, white granite from Montorfano, with a slightly bushhammered elevation, and pink granite from Baveno for the portico, it is defined by three compositional lines of elevation which form a kind of porticoed façade, characterized by twin lancet windows made of terracotta bricks with metal doors, windows and parapets. In the central part, where the public courtyard entrance of the new hotel is located, a variation of the façade extends up to the roof, clad entirely in white granite of Montorfano, while the windows have special glass parapets embellished with a gilded internal mesh, lit from behind. The hotel’s interior revolves around the foyer, which is characterized by a large glazed roof, made up of a steel criss-crossed and curved framework, giving a dynamic feel to the whole surroundings, linking, with material continuity, the circular staircase leading to the new congress rooms in the basement. The rooms are arranged as if through an urban path, with perspective cross-references for the mise-en-scène of the most important spaces, achieved through a variety of angles, overturned axes and exceptional rapports with furnishings. The guest is constantly surprised as he or she wanders through the hotel, where the clarity of passage and the hierarchy of the places (lounge areas, bars, reception) are translated into the pleasurable tranquility and sensation of inhabiting a place of classic modernity. The rooms are interpreted as magical boxes, all very different but linked by a uniform base, made up of velvety surfaces, which find a perfect balance in the pale hues, the soft, warm shades of whites and greys. So, room after room, the floors in stone or in terrazzo (faux-marble) along the passages become timber in the lounge areas, large oak planks in the French style. The plastering of varying weight is interpreted in the same way, right through to the bedrooms where the peculiar use of encaustic gives a certain preciousness to the room.

architecture: Studio Arassociati (M. Brandolisio, G. Da Pozzo, M. Scheurer, M. Tadini) www.arassociati.it
interior: Studio Arassociati and Nicolagalliziadesignstudio
client: Starhotels Firenze
year: 2008-2009