The new, eclectic identity of an Art Nouveau flat in Verona

Manuel Barbieri and Marco Magalini, founders of the creative consultancy agency MM Company and the editorial project and multimedia platform Caleido Diary, have renovated an Art Nouveau flat in Verona, transforming it into their refuge.  It is a 140 square metre house-manifesto in which volumes with international architectural and stylistic references can be found, ranging from Brazilian modernist rationalism and brutalism by the likes of Lina Bo Bardi, Jorge Zalszupin and Oscar Niemeyer to the geometries and materiality of Morocco, the couple’s adopted home. 

The project safeguarded some of the building's original features – the framed doors and the decorated fin-de-siècle cement tiles on the floor – and gave new light to the original plasterwork, while proposing a different subdivision of space. Casa Caleido is presented in the guise of a travel diary. “This house is the place of the unfinished: a space of fascination, where we can break the performance pattern imposed by our creative agency in Milan,” explains the couple. A dramatic floor-to-ceiling textile wall made of sound-absorbing velvet fabric becomes the central element of the project, serving to connect or divide spaces and shaping an exclusive area for guests. The central space of the house is the dining room, connected to the living area by an archway that blends Venetian and Moroccan styles in its features. The bathroom, on the other hand, is inspired by the Riads of the Marrakech medina and has a bathtub formed from a single block of cement, accessible through an archway. The areas of the house are characterised by finishes in earthy hues and by the use of natural materials such as marble and wood. The flat is also a space for hosting creatives from different fields.