The project stems from @onda_milano desire to create a versatile space—a cocktail bar with a listening room. The starting point is the reopening of the arches between the two street-facing rooms. Clad in stainless steel, these arches connect the main spaces, enhancing both their physical and visual continuity. A dark wood boiserie, chromatically continuous with the microcement flooring, runs along the perimeter of the two spaces, integrating all the furnishings such as benches and shelves. The bar counter, made of bent and perforated steel, incorporates an integrated lighting and sound-absorbing system. A semicircular passageway connects the bar area to the listening room, reiterating the arch motif. A curved steel door leads to the restrooms, where the walls are clad in cut polycarbonate. Above the sink, the polycarbonate features stripe-like cutouts reminiscent of a barcode, allowing light to filter through while also integrating mirrors. In contrast to the bar area, where the boiserie is positioned in the lower part of the space, the listening room adopts the opposite approach to emphasize the difference between the two areas. The dark wood boiserie covers the entire upper section of the space, extending to the ceiling, where it merges with the dark suspended ceiling that houses the room’s technical equipment. The listening room is conceived as an empty space, where two key elements stand out: a circular vinyl display totem made of steel, suspended from the existing pipes, and the console, custom-built in wood, resting on a steel pedestal and accompanied by vintage Altec speakers from the 1970s.
Abitare n. 644
Domus
Elle Decor
Divisare
Year
2023-2024
Location
Milan, Italy
Client
Private
Project
SOLUM
Niccolò Calabrese de Feo
Collaborator
Gian Mario Vecchiato
Contractor
Exige Contract
materia.xyz
Photography
Nicolò Panzeri
Giacomo Ricci
The project stems from @onda_milano desire to create a versatile space—a cocktail bar with a listening room. The starting point is the reopening of the arches between the two street-facing rooms. Clad in stainless steel, these arches connect the main spaces, enhancing both their physical and visual continuity. A dark wood boiserie, chromatically continuous with the microcement flooring, runs along the perimeter of the two spaces, integrating all the furnishings such as benches and shelves. The bar counter, made of bent and perforated steel, incorporates an integrated lighting and sound-absorbing system. A semicircular passageway connects the bar area to the listening room, reiterating the arch motif. A curved steel door leads to the restrooms, where the walls are clad in cut polycarbonate. Above the sink, the polycarbonate features stripe-like cutouts reminiscent of a barcode, allowing light to filter through while also integrating mirrors. In contrast to the bar area, where the boiserie is positioned in the lower part of the space, the listening room adopts the opposite approach to emphasize the difference between the two areas. The dark wood boiserie covers the entire upper section of the space, extending to the ceiling, where it merges with the dark suspended ceiling that houses the room’s technical equipment. The listening room is conceived as an empty space, where two key elements stand out: a circular vinyl display totem made of steel, suspended from the existing pipes, and the console, custom-built in wood, resting on a steel pedestal and accompanied by vintage Altec speakers from the 1970s.
Abitare n. 644
Domus
Elle Decor
Divisare
Year
2023-2024
Location
Milan, Italy
Client
Private
Project
SOLUM
Niccolò Calabrese de Feo
Collaborator
Gian Mario Vecchiato
Contractor
Exige Contract
materia.xyz
Photography
Nicolò Panzeri
Giacomo Ricci
SOLUM is an architecture office based in Milan established in 2019 by Mattia Agates, Lorenzo Campagna, Filippo Gismondi and Alessandro Loda after their graduation at the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio, (CH).
The studio works with a diversity of projects at various scales from urban planning to interior projects. It has participated in several national and international competitions, also in collaboration with other architects, winning some prizes and awards.
SOLUM is also involved in research and education activities as design teaching assistants at the Politecnico di Milano and Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio USI.
Mattia Agates, Rome 1994
He graduated in 2019 from Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio USI, in Switzerland. In 2015, he worked for Al-Jawad Pike Architects in London. In 2017, in Mendrisio, he founded the student association Concreto and Archealizar, a studio for the realization of images of architecture and design. In 2019 he founded SOLUM. From 2024 he’s teaching assistant at Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio USI.
Lorenzo Campagna, Rome 1994
He graduated in 2019 from Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio USI, in Switzerland. In 2015, he worked for Manuel Aires Mateus in Lisbon. In 2017 he worked for Itten Brechbuhl in Lugano and in Mendrisio, he founded the student association Concreto and Archealizar, a studio for the realization of images of architecture and design. From 2019 he’s teaching assistant at Politecnico di Milano and from 2024 at Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio USI. In 2019 he founded SOLUM.
Filippo Gismondi, Milan 1994
He graduated in 2019 from Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio USI, in Switzerland. In 2015, he worked for Manuel Aires Mateus in Lisbon. In 2017, in Mendrisio, he founded the student association Concreto and Archealizar, a studio for the realization of images of architecture and design. From 2019 he’s teaching assistant at Politecnico di Milano. In 2019 he founded SOLUM.
Alessandro Loda, Desenzano 1994
He graduated in 2019 from Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio USI, in Switzerland. In 2015, he worked for HKS Architects in London. In 2017, in Mendrisio, he founded the student association Concreto and Archealizar, a studio for the realization of images of architecture and design. In 2019 he founded SOLUM.
Collaborators
Laura Acanfora, Alberto Allevi, Giovanni Battocletti, Silvia Beretta, Niccolò Calabrese de Feo, Giulia Grifoni, Gian Mario Vecchiato