Why not take advantage of these autumn weekends to indulge in a Sunday tour of our beautiful Milan? Said and done! In the heart of the city, via Mozart 14, there is a jewel of deco style architectural art, famous and appreciated both in and outside Milan. It is Villa Necchi Campiglio.
Hidden from the eyes of the curious, it was built by Peter Portaluppi between 1932 and 1935 for Angelo Campiglio and Gigina Necchi’s family, belonging to the high Lombard industrial bourgeoisie. The house knows two “seasons”: the Portaluppi one, characterised by high quality materials, furniture and decorations that create a perfect fusion of Art Déco and Rationalism, and that of Tommaso Buzzi who, after the end of World War II, decided to sweeten the space with curtains, furniture and drapes in baroque and classical style.
Therefore, fabrics embellished with floral patterns mix up with furniture and linear decorations typical of the ‘30s art. Notable finishing touches and installations as dumbwaiters, intercoms, safes or walled up caveau, make it even more a unique (today as it was then) and ancient house that became a symbol of architecture and art in Milan.
Donated to FAI (Italian Environment Fund) it has been converted into a museum house open to the public, preserving collections such as those by Alighiero and Emilietta de Micheli (which includes artworks by Canaletto, Tiepolo, Carriera) or as Claudia Gian Ferrari’s collection which collects works by Balla, Boccioni or De Chirico.
Divided over four floors (plus the attic), it shows visitors the comfort and security that characterised the bourgeois lifestyle of the time, immersing the visitor in a glossy atmosphere, antique, enough so that it was chosen as the set of Luca Guadagnino‘s film “I am love”, which tells the story of the wealthy Recchi’s family (doesn’t it remind of the name Necchi?) struggling with social conventions disrupted by passionate, economic and personal evolutions.
We can say that Villa Necchi Campiglio is a place stuck in time that takes us back to the roaring Fox Trot years, riding the visual notes and colours of artistic beauty.
Photo credit: Il Circuito Case Museo di Milano.