On the first floor of the Milanese Palazzo Brera, on the left side of the Napoleonic loggia, a small glass door welcomes visitors to the new Caffè Fernanda, the museum cafè that concludes the visit to the 38 Pinacoteca di Brera’s renewed rooms.
A three-year renovation project curated by director James Bradburne, which focused mainly on the last two rooms dedicated to the XIX century. More than a lounge area, Caffè Fernanda – named after former director Fernanda Wittgens – is conceived as the 39th room at the end of the museum tour. In fact, it contains four important artworks: Pietro Damini’s St. Bernard Converting the Duke of Aquitania, Bertel Thorvaldsen’s The Three Graces, the bust of Fernanda Wittgens by Marino Marini and a portrait of her by Attilio Rossi.
The interiors, with furnishing by Pedrali, maintain chromatic and material continuity with the rest of the museum and propose a reinterpretation of the space’s 50s architecture: enlarged, semi-circular strips of canaletto walnut, topped by a curiously thin, antique-brass surface. The colors – petrol blue for the walls, peach-blossom marble on the floor and Lepanto-red frames – resume those of the rooms of the original project by Portaluppi.
From the bar tables you can admire Hayez’s Kiss kept in the next room according to a perspective game of ecstasy, contemplation and reflection on beauty.
Caffè Fernanda: a 1950s museum cafè in the heart of Brera, Milan
Rgastudio designs the first Pinacoteca di Brera’s café in the sign of a continuity of colors and materials.
Modular seatings Modus by Pedrali, combined wiht Inox tables, with walnut top and base finished in brass.
Jazz armchairs by Pedrali, with upholstery in pink eco leather and steel structure with brass finishing.
Jazz armchairs by Pedrali, with upholstery in pink eco leather and steel structure with brass finishing.
Jazz armchairs by Pedrali, with upholstery in pink eco leather and steel structure with brass finishing.
Modular seatings Modus by Pedrali, combined wiht Inox tables, with walnut top and base finished in brass.
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- Marta Milasi
- 05 February 2019
- Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
- Rgastudio
- 140 sqm
- café
- 2018
- Caffè Fernanda
- Rgastudio, Raffaele Azzarelli & Giuliano Iamele
- Federica Savoldelli
- Fabbro spa - Pinacoteca di Brera
- via Brera, 28, Milan
- Michele Nastasi
The new Pinacoteca di Brera's Caffè Fernanda by Rgastudio, Milan, 2018. 1950s furnishings in marble, wood and brass by Pedrali and CIAM. Photo by Michele Nastasi.
The new Pinacoteca di Brera's Caffè Fernanda by Rgastudio, Milan, 2018. 1950s furnishings in marble, wood and brass by Pedrali and CIAM. Photo by Michele Nastasi.
The new Pinacoteca di Brera's Caffè Fernanda by Rgastudio, Milan, 2018. 1950s furnishings in marble, wood and brass by Pedrali and CIAM. Photo by Michele Nastasi.
The new Pinacoteca di Brera's Caffè Fernanda by Rgastudio, Milan, 2018. 1950s furnishings in marble, wood and brass by Pedrali and CIAM. Photo by Michele Nastasi.
The new Pinacoteca di Brera's Caffè Fernanda by Rgastudio, Milan, 2018. 1950s furnishings in marble, wood and brass by Pedrali and CIAM. Photo by Michele Nastasi.
The new Pinacoteca di Brera's Caffè Fernanda by Rgastudio, Milan, 2018. 1950s furnishings in marble, wood and brass by Pedrali and CIAM. Photo by Michele Nastasi.
The new Pinacoteca di Brera's Caffè Fernanda by Rgastudio, Milan, 2018. 1950s furnishings in marble, wood and brass by Pedrali and CIAM. Photo by Michele Nastasi.
The new Pinacoteca di Brera's Caffè Fernanda by Rgastudio, Milan, 2018. 1950s furnishings in marble, wood and brass by Pedrali and CIAM. Photo by Michele Nastasi.
The new Pinacoteca di Brera's Caffè Fernanda by Rgastudio, Milan, 2018. 1950s furnishings in marble, wood and brass by Pedrali and CIAM. Photo by Michele Nastasi.
The new Pinacoteca di Brera's Caffè Fernanda by Rgastudio, Milan, 2018. 1950s furnishings in marble, wood and brass by Pedrali and CIAM. Photo by Michele Nastasi.
The new Pinacoteca di Brera's Caffè Fernanda by Rgastudio, Milan, 2018. 1950s furnishings in marble, wood and brass by Pedrali and CIAM. Photo by Michele Nastasi.
The new Pinacoteca di Brera's Caffè Fernanda by Rgastudio, Milan, 2018. 1950s furnishings in marble, wood and brass by Pedrali and CIAM. Photo by Michele Nastasi.
The new Pinacoteca di Brera's Caffè Fernanda by Rgastudio, Milan, 2018. 1950s furnishings in marble, wood and brass by Pedrali and CIAM. Photo by Michele Nastasi.