Mediterranean time off
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Agape Destinations
Il Gattopardo Lampedusa, Italy
EN The island of Lampedusa is the southernmost patch
of land in all of Italy. The small outcropping emerges from
the Mediterranean roughly halfway between Malta and
Tunisia (and in fact, belongs geologically to the African
continent) and its remote position has given this small island
a feeling of being frozen in an era long past. That makes
it the ideal place to totally disconnect. Another of the
island’s striking features is the landscape, which is
composed of arid limestone hills and sparse shrubbery, like
a small desert surrounded by water. But Lampedusa’s real
draw is its stunning coastline, dominated by sandy beaches,
stony cliffs and turquoise waters teeming with marine life.
Peering over Lampedusa’s rocky southern edge
toward the Mediterranean sea of Cala Creta is Gattopardo,
a family-run 10-room boutique hotel. Architects Valentina
Moretti and Tiziana Amato have together co-designed rooms
and common spaces as a cozy and comfortable home.
Amato was responsible for the masonry and bathroom
furnishings, while Moretti, creative director of More studio,
a business unit of Terra Moretti Holding, of which L’Albereta
Relais & Châteaux is also a part, oversaw interior and
exterior design and the selection of all accessories.
“The idea was to create a hotel that respects the
wilderness and history of the island,” say the owners.
Colors, finishes and materials recall the sea, the coastline
and the landscape. For example, Amato had the walls built
in rough limestone using traditional Lampedusan techniques
and the domed roofs that reference Dammuso houses,
typical of the local architectural traditions.
However for the interiors, “Moretti opted to mix
design furniture pieces, custom made, and unique pieces”,
as well as included references to the local culture such
as sailing rope wound around the exterior handrails
and pergolas reminiscent of fishing nets in shades of natural
brass. “The interiors have been finished with essential
design materials and earthy brown colors”, they add. Neutral
tones also for the bathrooms, where Tiziana Amato chose
furnishings in the contrasting colors of black and white. “The
organic lines of the rooms could not fail to recall the design
of the Vieques line with its opaque white finish”, they explain
of their choices, “just as the essentiality of the spaces could
only be respected by the elegant simplicity of the Fez 2 taps
in black or white”.
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Vieques washbasin, Fez 2 tap
Lavabo Vieques, rubinetto Fez 2
“Our intention was to respect the authentic nature,
wilderness, as well as the history of the island”.
Valentina Moretti
