Mediterranean design language for the renovation of a home on the Sorrento coast

With his use of ceramics inspired by marine landscapes, master designer Gio Ponti provided a shining example for generations of architects and created a specific aesthetic language.

The young architects of 87Studio got to grips with his legacy when asked by the owners of an apartment to renovate their home in a way that strengthened its links to the sea and the surrounding landscape.

The home is at Massa Lubrense on the Sorrento peninsula, and the sea-view terrace, on the first floor of the building, offers a breath-taking panorama of the beautiful stretch of coast.

To consolidate the bond to the Mediterranean setting and the local decorative tradition, the Crogiolo Scenario collection by Marazzi was chosen to play a central role in the entire project.

The use of blue and white, also typical of the traditional majolica ware for which the area is famous, was an obvious choice.

Given the terrace, and the wish to use a single material for both the indoor and the outdoor spaces, porcelain stoneware was the only real option.

The colour range of Scenario, a stoneware tile collection that updates ‘I Pennellati’, the 1958 series created by Sassuolo-born artist Venerio Martini for Marazzi , evokes the brush-decorated look of traditional ceramics in matt version and provides a very traditional effect, but with all the performances of ceramic coverings industrially manufactured using controlled processes.

Thanks to the technological innovations made to the production processes, Scenario accurately reproduces the flaws and rich colours of glossy majolica ware on more practical, higher-performing matt surfaces.

Scenario forms part of the broader Crogolo project, which comprises seven Marazzi small size tile collections inspired by traditional ceramics. In this home, Scenario is installed in the square size (20x20 cm) and with a single decor, Tappeto 1 Blu, in two different motifs and colours: on the floor, the pattern clearly evokes the forms of the waves of the sea, while on the walls, in the kitchen and on the terrace, the same decor is used in a completely different way, with a clarity which confirms the material’s extreme compositional versatility, even with such explicit colour contrasts.

The design scheme is dominated by blue and white both inside and outside the home, providing a particularly attractive aesthetic effect of spatial continuity, thanks to the matt finish of the entire line.

Ph Daniele Domenicali