Design - G-Rough

Originale fin dall’ingresso, G-rough si apre ai suoi ospiti attraverso la “Gallery Bar”, onirico e caleidoscopico project space con banco bar in ottone satinato in fondo alla parete, pareti a specchio color bronzo, poltrone e tavolini originali anni ‘50, cementine esagonali bianche e rosse a terra e rigogliosi rami e fronde a sovrastare le sedute e creare un effetto “giardino d’inverno” che si riflette nell’affresco fotografico wallpaper del corridoio, realizzato – site specific – dall’artista Pietro Ruffo.

La “Gallery Bar” nasce come punto d’incontro e rappresentazione verso l’esterno dello spirito artistico e delle opere che pervadono il carattere di G-rough, ma si trasforma poi in punto di partenza di una matrice che si sviluppa in tutti gli spazi della struttura: camere, scale, muri, pavimenti e soffitti in una sorta di “galleria diffusa” in tutto l’edificio.

Il corridoio, decorato dal wall-paper camouflage di Ruffo conduce a un salotto privato e intimo, ri-nominato “SITO”, dall’iscrizione-opera realizzata dall’artista Gianni Piacentini sopra l’ingresso e alle scale che portano ai cinque piani e alle dieci suite di G-rough.

Il forte spirito artistico si manifesta anche nella numerazione dei piani che, figurando l’edificio campato in aria (o radicato in cielo), secondo un’idea di Piacentini e Salini, segue una numerazione sotto sopra – rappresentata con intense scritte al neon ad ogni pianerottolo: con il piano “uno… dal cielo” situato al 5° piano reale, e il piano “cinque” al 1° reale.

Alle dieci suite dei piani superiori si accede attraverso scale decorate dai murales a pastello di Marino Melarangelo: cinque Pasquino Suite, affacciate sull’omonima piazza e cinque Suite, affacciate sull’interno. Tutti gli ambienti sono arredati con oggetti unici, dal gusto inconfondibile: atelier di vintage design, aste, fiere di modernariato e laboratori d’artista il territorio di esplorazione e ispirazione in cui sono stati accuratamente selezionati tutti i pezzi da collezione che “abitano” G-rough.

Ogni camera rende omaggio ai designer rappresentati portando i loro nomi propri: Silvio (da Silvio Cavatorta), Giò (Giò Ponti), Gugliemo (Ulrich), Ico (Parisi), Afra&Tobia (Scarpa), … … con ritratti stilizzati di ciascuno all’ingresso delle rispettive porte e portachiavi personalizzati allo stesso modo, tutto realizzato dall’artista Marco Raparelli e si rivelano poi completamente diverse l’una dell’altra: dal sabbia che domina le pareti scialbate; al giallo ocra, al beige caldo, al bordeaux e il verde muschio al rarefatto bianco ghiaccio, che si specchia in quello della cupola di Sant’Agnese, del quinto piano.

Il forte spirito artistico si manifesta anche nella numerazione dei piani che, figurando l’edificio campato in aria (o radicato in cielo), secondo un’idea dell’artista Gianni Piacentini, segue una numerazione sotto sopra – rappresentata con intense scritte al neon ad ogni pianerottolo: con il piano “cinque” situato al primo piano, reale, e il piano “uno” all’ultimo.

Ogni porta si apre grazie ad un pomo, opera in ottone realizzato da Emiliano Maggi.

Diverse nei singoli elementi di arredo ogni camera ripropone lo stilema e l’estetica essenziale e rigorosa di un certo design italiano del secolo scorso racchiudendo, ciascuna, una o più “perle”: tavolo, sedie, armadi e tolette di Ico Parisi, carrello bar, appliques e specchi di Gio Ponti, lampade e poltroncine della coppia Afra&Tobia Scarpa, armadio e camera da letto in pergamena dalle linee sobrie di Gugliemo Ulrich…

Afra Bianchin was born in Montebelluna, Italy in 1937. He earned a degree in architecture from the Università Iuav di Venezia in 1957. In 1960, along with Tobia Scarpa, she opened her own design office in Montebelluna. Together, they designed for several companies such as Gavina, B&B Italia, Cassina and Meritalia while collaborating with Benetton clothing company to design the firm’s first textile factory. Among their notable works we can highlight the sofa “Bastiano” (1961), the sofa “Coronado” (1966), the armchair “Soriana” (1968) and the chair “Libert” (1989). They also designed the “Papillion” lamp for Flos, one of the first

Osvaldo Borsani (born 1911, Varedo, Italy–died 1985, Milano, Italy) was an Italian designer and architect. Osvaldo Borsani was born into a family of furniture makers with along and well established artisanal tradition. His father, Gaetano Borsani, owned his own shop, the Atelier di Varedo, where the 16-year-old Osvaldo received his first training. Osvaldo Borsani studied fine arts at Accademia delle Belle Arti di Brera in Milan, graduating in 1931, and architecture at Politecnico di Milano, where he graduated in 1936.

Since the 30’s Silvio led the family company “Cavatorta” which was established in Rome in 1869 by his father Eugenio Cavatorta. The company used to produce its exclusive series furniture, dictated by a cosmopolitan interest which made their works unique, rare and aesthetical. While most designers embraced the industrial methods of production the Cavatorta company remains truthful to its own standards, rejecting large and industrial production in favor of fine material and craft.

Gino Sarfatti (born September 16 1912, Venice, Italy–died March 6, 1985, Griante, Italy) was an Italian entrepreneur, light and lamp designer, and founder of Italian light manufacturing company Arteluce. He was born into a family of relative wealth as his father, Riccardo Sarfatti, was a prosperous Jewish food trader, and his mother, Lucia Zuccoli, was from a prominent Catholic family of Trieste. In 1930, Gino moved to Genoa to enroll in the Faculty of Aeronaval Engineering. At 23, Gino Sarfatti interrupted his studies and moved to Milan, where he first founded, in 1936, in partnership with Aldo Valcarenghi and Dino Mondolfi,

Ico Parisi was an Italian architect and designer. Born Domenico Parisi in 1916 in Palermo, he was involved in building construction and architecture in Como during his early adulthood. By the 1940s, Parisi took up filmmaking and began designing furniture in 1945, for which he would become most renowned. His designs are characterized by their Italian mid-century Modern aesthetic, constructed using soft woods often cut into boomerang-like shapes, augmented by metal slats and boldly colored upholstery. His most prolific period was the two decades that preceded 1965, when he married and formed a design team with his wife, Luisa Aiani, in

Together with his brother Gianni, Joe Colombo developed the idea of prismatic lamps like the lamp Acrilica. His first design for Kartell was the chair No.4801 (1963–1967) which consisted of three assembled plywood elements.

Tobia Scarpa was born in Venice, Italy in 1935. From 1957 to 1961 Tobia worked as a glass designer at the Murano glassworks of Venini, and then in 1960 the two artists opened their own design office in Montebelluna.

Giovanni “Gio” Ponti (18 November 1891 – 16 September 1979) was an Italian architect, industrial designer, furniture designer, artist, teacher, writer and publisher. During his career, which spanned six decades, Ponti built more than a hundred buildings in Italy and in the rest of the world. He designed a considerable number of decorative art and design objects as well as furniture. Thanks to the magazine Domus, which he founded in 1928 and directed almost all his life, and thanks to his active participation in exhibitions such as the Milan Triennial, he was also an enthusiastic advocate of an Italian-style art of

Toni Zuccheri was son of Luigi Zuccheri, a painter of animals. He inherited his father’s passion for animals, which are the recurrent subjects of his glass creations. He frequented the Faculty of Architecture in Venice under the guide of Gardella, Albini, Scarpa and Samonà. From the 60’s he began the collaboration with Venini: his first glass works are, due to the family tradition, animals made of polychrome glass with valuable techniques, such as the “murrine”. In 1965 he began to collaborate with Gio Ponti, and together they designed a new glass system, the “Vetrate grosse”. He subsequently expanded his production

Described as an extraordinary mirror of a changing culture, reflecting a more measured and elegant world where a balance was struck between quality and good taste. Guglielmo Ulrich (born 1904, Milan–died 1977) was an Italian architect, furniture designer, and painter. He was born to a notable family of Danish origin. In 1924, Ulrich enrolled in the Scuola Speciale di Architettura at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera. He finished his studies at Politecnico di Milano in 1927 and soon became a very influential figure in modern Italian design.