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La Palma is a luxury hotel: what does luxury means today?
I think the most successful luxury interiors today are low key and
very sophisticated, which is actually the most difficult thing to
achieve, because understated decoration can be very expensive,
even if you wouldn’t say so by looking at it. But the quality is there,
the design is there, and the history is there. It is the most difficult
route to take when decorating nowadays. There are designers in
every country who are very focused on this, and I am one of them.
We are a small group with a very defined identity, style and point
of view, and every project we do challenges us to excel.
You designed everything, from the furniture to small details:
what is the role of craftsmanship in this project?
I designed maybe 90% of everything inside Hotel La Palma, which
is a very high number, and I had this vision that it had to be made in
Italy. My designs are good, but unless they’re made authentically,
with the surrounding environment in mind, they are not strong. So
craftsmanship is key. If a great jacket were made by a bad tailor,
it would be a bad jacket, but if it were made by a good tailor, it
would be a very beautiful jacket. It’s the same. Italy is a place where
fashion and furniture design are especially strong, and it has a
history of quality. I think this is why my work turned out beautifully.
Do you have a favorite piece?
I don’t have one, because for me the building is one thing, it’s one
entity. The whole thing is my favorite thing. I’ve had guests saying:
“I love this chair, I love this handle, I love that…”, but for me as a
designer there is just one harmonious design.
How did you use colours?
Everything for me has a narrative of the locality when it came to
colour. Of course, there is a lot of white, because white - bianco - is
all around in Capri: houses are white, it is the colour of calmness.
Then there are the aquas, the pale greens, the limone – I used what
I saw around me, the colours that make me happy when I’m in
Capri. So, my palette was white, with these accents of the colours
I picked out, which are true to the environment.
What was Poliform’s contribution to the project?
I had no experience with working with Poliform until this project.
What I was very taken aback by was that my designs are very
different to what Poliform retails and what people know them for,
even if obviously they are committed to quality, good materials and
good execution, so we share the same goals. A lot of my designs
draw inspiration from 1920s, ‘30s antique furniture, especially
from Art Deco, and contemporary design has a very different
narrative. What was interesting for me was that when I started
to see the prototyping, I became very engaged with them, I got
very excited. They brought the artistry in: when I wanted molded
items, when I wanted mosaics, when I wanted all these things, they
engaged with it very well at all different levels. We grew together,
and I think we all very much enjoyed the process of creating
something which for both parties was new. I think the collaboration
was a very good one, we both felt that we did something for us that
is another stepping stone in the way that we both work.
What about the counters in mosaic: what was the concept and
how did you develop it?
They were all made in Italy by Poliform. The ones on the rooftop
are inspired by the caftans that the ladies wear in Capri, I was
thinking of vintage Missoni, or Valentino, but also the exoticism
in Renzo Mongiardino’s design. Then there are palms, which are
part of the overall signature, as are the colors of Capri: the palm
is of course for La Palma, and I used it for mosaics on the floor, on
the counters, and on handles. I wanted the mosaics to be artisanal,
and not made in a factory, I mean, it was haute couture, and when
I saw the first samples I was so happy because it was great that
the people at Poliform understood my designs so well, it meant
they understood me.
You are loved as an interior designer for the ability to merge
design with visual art, sculpture and installation pieces: what
pieces did you choose for Hotel La Palma?
La Palma was a hotel for artists when it first opened, so I wanted this
history to continue. And I think contemporary art is very important
in anyone’s environment, it has a very big role in all our lives. Again,
I wanted Italian artists because we’re in Italy. The artworks in the
rooms were done by Milanese artist Luisa Lambri. She created
these small precious images, sort of additional windows with views
of Capri and Amalfi, to give guests something to aim their sight
at, and at the same time infuse a sense of calmness. In the lobby,
ceiling frescoes are by Roberto Ruspoli. Every season from now
on there will be a new show, and the hotel will acquire some new
artworks every year, so its collection will change and develop. I
think this gives a unique style to the hotel, an individuality that is
very sophisticated and is getting rarer in the hospitality business
today. I’m very happy that I was there to lay the foundations of an
art project like that, and that both the Ruben Brothers and Oetker
love the idea that art becomes very much part of what this hotel is.
What was people’s reaction to the project?
La Palma is my first hotel, so I was quite nervous to see the reaction
of people. But from what we know and have read in the first few
months, it’s been a big success, for me but most of all for Oetker
and the owners. There was a lot of love, a lot of generosity in
people’s praise for the hotel and for me as a designer. One of the
most important elements was the recognition I got from the people
of Capri. They were nervous about the hotel, about an international
company with an international designer coming in and putting
something modernist perhaps or that doesn’t fit in. They all loved
the hotel, I gave them something that has the essence of Capri,
showing that conserving the architecture, restoring it, looking after
it, bringing it up to date, creates a new authenticity to the place. I’m
so happy I was given this opportunity, it was fate that this hotel, my
first, is in one of my favorite places in the world.
