An Ode to Gio Ponti: A 1920s Apartment in Milan by David/Nicolas.

Refurbishing a property designed by one architectural icon and redesigned by another can scare even the mightiest of architects. But the Lebanese design duo David Raffoul and Nicolas Moussallem of their namesake practice David/Nicolas, it seems, are immune to such angst, as evidenced by their latest project, an apartment in Milan dubbed Casa di Fantasia. Not only was the Haussmannian Art Deco-style home, constructed in 1923, designed by Mario Borgaro, it was refurbished by Gio Ponti twenty-nine years later. And yet, when it came to putting their own stamp on the project, David and Nicolas were fearless, honouring the past, yes, but also creating a legacy for the future.

By the time the current owner, investment banker Michele Marocchino, acquired the property, it had lost its Pontian hallmarks, thanks to Michele’s predecessor, who had auctioned off its wall panels, Mellotti tiles, and furnishings some years prior. But the novelty of an empty shell wasn’t lost on Michele, who saw it as a canvas for experimentation—not just by anybody, mind you. He specifically had in mind David and Nicolas, whom he had met via a mutual friend one year prior. “It was an informal encounter, and we had no idea that he would call us to collaborate on this exceptional project a year later,” David recalls. But Michele did. Enlist them to collaborate that is, but not before showing them his brilliant Casa di Fantasia archive, filled with thoughtfully researched photos, tidbits and anecdotes of said storied structure.

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The project started small. “We were initially meant to create a boiserie for the two famous rooms: The Studio and The Dressing, as Michele had seen our boiserie systems before. Then, over time, while looking into the research and the data we had, we decided together with the client that it would be wiser to work on all the spaces and reimagine what was once the playground of Gio Ponti,” avers Nicolas, adding that it was both an honour and a challenge. “We needed to understand the whole vision of Ponti, not just the space, but also the meaning behind everything he had done there, why he thought that way and what were his intentions. We wanted to give it a new soul while respecting its heritage.”

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Still, this was easier said than done. Because there was one question that plagued the partners time and time again: how can we add our own identity without taking away from Gio Ponti’s? The answer, it turned out, was reimagining the past à la Ponti, but with a David/Nicolas flair. And so, previously removed rooms were recreated. Original proportions were reinstated. Even Ponti’s use of radica wood was reinterpreted in the way of marquetry, its movement informed by the original.

David and Nicolas like to think that Ponti always intended for this project to be an experiment that straddled decades, and that he would be happy with the end result. But the pair still contemplates certain questions: “Can collaborations exist in different times? Can a space be torn apart and pieced back together? Is it possible that the timeless work of Gio Ponti transcends the material itself and still makes sense with another interpretation? Can different identities create a harmonious space?” The answer to every question, of course, is yes. Evidently, in this home, there’s room for Ponti, David and Nicolas, and all the designers and denizens in between.

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[Images courtesy of David/Nicolas. Photography by Sara Magni.]