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Home is the most important place in everyone’s life. It’s a place where the rooms aren’t simply defined by their function but by our emotions, so that we feel part of the space in which we live and identify with it. Visionnaire developed Volare, its new residential offering, from this perspective, drawing its inspiration from the Japanese word yūgen, which expresses the profound and mysterious sense of the beauty of the universe.
Volare is the latest product collection created by Visionnaire. It was conceived by a team of leading designers who’ve all been working with the company for some time, including Alessandro La Spada, Steve Leung, Mauro Lipparini, Draga&Aurel, Studiopepe, m2atelier, and Gupica. But Volare is also a 2000 m2 home that, working with Alessandro La Spada, Visionnaire designed on the beach in the Bulgari Compound in Dubai. The home will be completed by fall 2024.
Dubbed Volare – A New Residential Vision – The One-of-a-Kind Home Manifesto by Visionnare, the project was presented on the evening of Monday, April 17, at the press conference previewing the 61st Salone Internazionale del Mobile at the Visionnaire Design Gallery at 3 Piazza Cavour, Milan. The conference was presented by Leopoldo Cavalli, Visionnare CEO and cofounder, and Dubai real estate developer "Volare".
“Volare is the name of the developer we’re working with,” said Leo Cavalli. “But it’s also the name of our new collection. We borrowed the name from Domenico Modugno’s song because, for us, Volare means giving space to the imagination, flying high and seeing the big picture, feeding on visions, and being visionaries. Volare is an ambitious project that’s unparalleled in its scope by anything else in our industry. The concept embodied in the collection is the same as applied to the Volare project in Dubai. Our booth also encapsulates this, which makes it extraordinary. The collection was previewed to the developer, who applied its design approach for the project”.
A true design manifesto for the contemporary home, Volare has been a key attraction at Milano Design Week. At the flagship store in Piazza Cavour, it was also presented the immersive installation The Empire of the Senses by Studiopepe, curated by Arianna Lelli Mami and Chiara Di Pinto, and part of the Wunderkammer.
Visionnaire’s wide range of products and collections stand out for their design and quality, the result of major research into materials and craft techniques by the company combined with a commitment to low environmental impact development. The firm’s booth at the exhibition reflects this, with 40% of the materials from industrial recycling, reusing some sections of the booth from the previous edition.
For every room of the house, Visionnaire makes it possible to create tailor-made spaces that reflect who we are. The Villa D’Este kitchen, designed by Mauro Lipparini, celebrates the social dimension of living with elegant materials, such as Stone Oak, a fossilized wood produced by centuries of soil stratification, and Calacatta marble, characterized by its multiple curving veins.
The new Duncan hideaway kitchen, designed by Alessandro La Spada, is like a treasure chest with a sliding wall, covered with brass tiles, that conceals the kitchen. Other products of La Spada’s creative genius include the Cameron table, with a sculptural marble base, and the new Bomber sofa, an enveloping design with soft, rounded shapes designed for family life.
The Nature Jewel Box collection, designed by Steve Leung, is also for the living area and includes various pieces – including the Deimos family of upholstered furniture – inspired by the regenerative forces of nature and, in particular, by the extraordinary resilience of trees.
For the bedroom, the most intimate room in the house, the colors are more enveloping. The Aubade bed combines full and empty volumes enhanced by a backlit marble backdrop, while the Leonardo bed has a padded headboard with a stovepipe design that frames the bed. Both were designed by La Spada.
To complete the bedroom, there’s the Genesis walk-in closet, designed by La Conca. There’s also the new Shibari armchair, conceived by Studiopepe, which combines with Blanche mirrors and Parade lighting to form the capsule collection featured in the Empire of the Senses installation, where every object on show offers a sensory experience. “This immersive installation,” said Arianna Lelli Mami and Chiara Di Pinto, “is dedicated to the senses as our tools for gaining knowledge of the world. The upholsteries are tactile and the colors reflect the nuances of leather. These visual, tactile, and olfactory experiences are accompanied by dance performances”.
Of course, Visionnaire’s new residential concept includes a home theater, for which it’s created the new Brubeck, which draws its design inspiration from the automotive world. The wellness room is also catered for with the Kloster fitness collection, designed by La Spada, which includes a range of home workout equipment, such as a Pilates ball, a bench, a punching bag, and an exercise mat holder.
The Volare project stands out for the attention paid to every detail, right down to the olfactory identity of the rooms, with a fragrance that Visionnaire has developed with Antonella Bondi.
Visionnaire has a long-established relationship with Alessandro La Spada, an eclectic designer who finds his inspiration in the place where art, design, and ancient craft techniques intersect. Dreamlike atmospheres, attention to detail, luxury, and experimental functionality all come together in the creations of this “self-taught artist with the attitude of a craftsman”, as he describes himself.
The reinvention of custom-made vintage design pieces is the hallmark of Draga & Aurel, a multidisciplinary studio in Como led by Draga Obradovic, who has a background in fashion, and Aurel K. Basedow, who trained as a carpenter before earning a degree in fine arts. Their work is characterized by original and empathetic techniques, combined with an artistic approach to materials and composition.
Gupica, the alias of Gunilla Zamboni, began her career in the field of mural painting in Florence and the decorative arts in Versailles. She gained a diploma in peintre en décor, later specializing in interior design at the IED in Milan. Her work is characterized by an all-encompassing approach in which decoration becomes a tool for exploring the expressive and sensorial dimensions of every project.
International studio m2atelier started life in Milan following the merger of the Marco Bonelli and Marijana Radovic studios. Through ongoing research into materials, space, and proportions, combined with attention to detail, the two architects create projects that are constantly evolving in terms of character, identity, and uniqueness.
Minimalist designs composed using essential shapes and clear lines, combined with a free use of color is the hallmark of the work of Mauro Lipparini, a former University of Florence professor. The creator of countless projects in the field of industrial design, his work in architecture and interior design has centered on the residential and commercial sectors.
Originally from Hong Kong, Steve Leung, an internationally renowned architect and designer with over 40 years of experience, is another inclusion in this list of Italian studios. Leung draws his inspiration from Asian cultures and arts to create a unique, contemporary style. He was the first Chinese president in the history of the International Federation of Interior Architects / Designers (IFI), a role he held from 2017 through 2020.
Poetic vision and rigorous design come together in the work of Studiopepe, the design agency set up in Milan by Arianna Lelli Mami and Chiara Di Pinto. Ranging from architecture to creative direction, the studio’s work touches on art, installations, the study of formal archetypes, material experimentation, and dialogues between opposites.
All images courtesy of Visionnaire
