A house in Naples with a round "agora" in the lobby

Dark wood, designer furniture and the atmosphere of the 1970s – in the project of architect Carmine Abate

Sofa Edra. Marble on the floor, Alfa Marmi. Wallpaper panels with butterflies Butterflies, Misha. Shades Stone and Zeus Lino curtains, all Dedar. Armchair and coffee table, Vitra. Wallpaper in the TV area, Nobilis. Lighting, Viabizzuno. TV cabinet, TM Italia.

Photo: Carlo Oriente

The owner of this house, Luigi Ganzerli, is the head of a large company with offices all over the country: in Bolzano, Padua, Piacenza, Verona, Trento, Capua, Naples. Because of work, he spends half of the week traveling all over Italy, and therefore wanted to settle near the airport and away from the tedious Neapolitan traffic jams.

Architect Carmine Abate in the interior of a house in Naples.

Photo: Carlo Oriente

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS:

Object: apartment with outdoor terrace and swimming pool

Where is it: Naples, Italy

Square: 200 m2 main space + 300m2 terrace and swimming pool

The author of the project: designer and architect Carmine Abate, studio Carmine Abate Architetto, www.carmineabate.it

View from the kitchen towards the dining room. On the floor — porcelain stoneware Neutra, Casadolcecasa. Stools, Pedrali. Kitchen, TM Italia. Mixer, Gessi.

Photo: Carlo Oriente

The customer needed a spacious house in which his family could be accommodated: his wife, a Cuban by birth, and their son, and, if necessary, two more children of Luigi from his first marriage. “I completely entrusted everything to Carmine, with whom we have already worked together on the restyling of offices in Naples,” says Luigi.

Sofa, Edra. Floor tiles, Alfa Marmi. Panel with butterflies Butterflies, Misha. Shades Stone and Zeus Lino curtains, all Dedar. Armchair and coffee table, Vitra. Lamps, Viabizzuno.

Photo: Carlo Oriente

“When I saw the project, so eclectic and rich in materials, I immediately liked it,” the owner of the house continues. “I accepted Carmine’s furniture offers and learned to understand my taste, which is very similar to his: we both admire the charm of the seventies.”

Table, chairs and wardrobe, all — Cassina. Lamp, Fontanarte.

Photo: Carlo Oriente

“I was lucky that the client’s requests coincided with my vision. The house, born as a result of a lively dialogue and exchange of ideas, has become a stylistic manifesto that best represents my design work”

Carmine Abate

View from the kitchen towards the garden and pool.

Photo: Carlo Oriente

The 1970s were reflected here in the furnishings and materials, especially in the corridor about thirteen meters long, where the canaletto walnut doors hide the technical unit, the laundry room, the closet compartments and the bedroom door. On the opposite side, a panel with herons on a golden background was placed.

Photo: Carlo Oriente

Photo: Carlo Oriente

The long corridor ends with an “agora”, as the architect calls it. This is a round entrance hall with sixteen sliding panels made of solid oak, through which you can get into different rooms. As in antiquity, the “agora” here plays the role of the main square — a meeting place — only built inside the house. From here, paths diverge throughout the apartment, and wooden panels hide the doors to the bedroom, office, bathroom and dressing room.

Oak panels and canaletto walnut doors in the corridor are custom-made, Barra arredamenti

Photo: Carlo Oriente

The linear rhythm of the corridor is continued by the floor covering, a “carpet” of gray granite entering the space of the hall with wooden floors. Circles on the ceiling with inserts of stabilized moss emphasize the rounded shapes of the room. Gnarled oak for floors was chosen and bought in Bolzano, where the owner of the house often goes on business.

The oak paneling of the walls is made to order by Barra arredamenti.

Photo: Carlo Oriente

The details of the bedroom and the adjoining bathroom reveal the characters of the owners of the house: Italian and Cuban. “The bathroom evokes associations with noble rocks overgrown with greenery, and the bedroom resembles an exotic, almost fairy—tale world seen through the eyes of migratory birds,” says Carmine Abate about this part of the house. The wallpaper behind the bed is framed like a painting, the grapes are deliberately chosen by the architect in a not superfluous natural color to emphasize the fabulous side of this space.

Bed, Molteni. Mirror, B&B Italia. Wisteria, Misha wallpaper. Pendant lamp, Gubi. Water-based wall paint, Sikkens.

Guest bathroom. Grey marble floors Antolini Sequoia, Alfa Marmi.

Photo: Carlo Oriente

An emerald-colored bathtub was installed in the main bathroom, and a moss panel continues the green theme on the wall next to it.

Photo: Carlo Oriente

The kitchen, dining room and living room are located in a single open space and are visually distinguished by three types of flooring for each zone. In the living room, the sculptural Edra sofa stands on a geometric “carpet” of black and white Carrara marble, the perimeter of this area is marked with gray granite. In the dining room, the floors are lined with boards, and light gray granite was chosen for the kitchen.

Chairs and a table in the dining area are classics of the Hommage à Pierre Jeanneret collection from Cassina. Vitra chair. Alfa Marmi marble and porcelain stoneware.