How Italian architect Giacomo Totti’s ‘love of old things’ shines through in the interior design of his Vicenza home

While we are all staying home because of the coronavirus outbreak, this is the best time to think about ideas for decorating the home for spring. The northern Italian city of Vicenza lies three-quarters of the way between Milan and Venice and was founded around the second century BC. The city flourished under Venetian rule from early in the 15th to the end of the 18th century, with the work of architect Andrea Palladio (1508-1580), based on a detailed study of classical Roman architecture, giving the city its unique appearance.

Palladio’s urban buildings, and his villas, scattered throughout the Veneto region, had a decisive influence on the development of architecture, giving rise to the style known as Palladian. So, in this city rich in history and architectural culture, it is no surprise a young local architect is looking back to more recent history for his inspiration.

Over time, Vicenza native Giacomo Totti has developed his own interior design style, mixing heavy doses of mid-century modern with original details and an acute sense of colour. In designing his own home’s interior he could do exactly as he wanted. “The home was in a really good condition and I maintained the original layout of the apartment,” he says. “It was a traditional layout for a family home on the piano nobile (the first floor where the most important families would live), and so, therefore, a rational rectangular floor plan with a central corridor and the rooms coming off of that.”

The floors are a good reflection of the building’s history. It dates from the mid-1800s, but underwent structural changes in the 1950s involving modernisation. There is cherrywood parquet in a herringbone pattern, typical of the 50s, and the stone floors are a large-format Palladiana, as found throughout the Veneto area.

“I kept the finishes true to the 50s restoration of the building, which I thought was correct for the home,” Totti says. “The ceilings, which had stucco cornices, I definitely wanted to keep but they were in bad shape so I had them redone to old designs and in the traditional manner.”

Maintaining the original plan allowed Totti to finish the project in just three weeks, and freed him up to concentrate on the colours and furnishings. “This trick of having the entrance and corridor in a darker colour is one I use often,” he says. “It allows me to create an initial impact which is theatrical at the entrance and, when you move to the adjoining rooms, uses brighter colours to give the effect of larger, more spacious rooms. It’s something Frank Lloyd Wright used and I find it works well in these smaller city homes.”