We got to know him in his traditional role as architect and designer, artistic leader of top interior decoration companies and author of their collections, and as “interior stylist” for elegant home concepts. We also admired him as he partnered with the great names in luxury interior design and created his own brand through which to express his inherent idea of home, consisting of a sophisticated search for the unusual. Today we meet him in a much more familiar environment, where he reveals a new, original and quite remarkable facet of his eclectic personality and expertise. Samuele Mazza welcomes us in an unexpected location tucked in the heart of Milan.
The outside of the building echoes the Art Nouveau style that dominated the city’s architecture in the early twentieth century, while the inside is that of an English townhouse: a vertical maze of rooms and corridors leads into the heart of the building, to the doors of an unexpected Eden illuminated by a drizzle of crystals. We are at 11 Milano: a home, a showroom, a hotel. This is the place where Samuele Mazza lives, sleeps, eats in the company of his team: Fabio Perez, the manager, and Chef Rudy Valente. It is also a place frequented by guests from all over the world, who fill the ambience with zestful multiculturalism. A space where the dominant note is an elegant, sophisticated style, as dictated by Samuele Mazza’s design. Indeed, all the rooms have been furnished with items from the Timeless Interior collection designed by the architect. And this is what is innovative about the concept: rather than the aloofness of a display space, 11 Milano offers an experience, a place where anyone can “live” the furniture and feel the mood created by Samuele Mazza.
“This invigorated my love for the home. Reaching this solution was entirely natural,” explains the architect. “I design furniture, so why not create a place where people can actually try it in an everyday life situation? An inhabitable store, a lived-in interior design project. So we combined two successful Italian businesses: tourism and exports. Today, all designers and fashion houses open hotels, but to me it is more natural for the top players of the interior decoration industry to do so, since they already decorate for others!”
The result is a new, cozy and friendly model of hospitality, as well as a new business model where designer hospitality replaces the showcase store. The hotel has 11 rooms plus four owner’s rooms, two living rooms, an inner and an outer dining room, the spa and the terrace, with all the comforts and amenities of a world-class facility.
11 Milano leverages all the personal and professional experience of its creator, whose design approach is apparent in each of his pieces, even when produced in more subdued versions to accommodate all audiences.
His predilection for precious materials is everywhere, whether velvet or marble (which recalls his collaboration with Antolini), or rattan (typical of the outdoor creations for DFN), or hints to art and fashion, his primordial loves. Another major source of inspiration in conceiving this “big house” was Mazza’s Sicilian origin, from which he inherited this culture of hospitality and conviviality.
“It’s like cooking: all these aspects are ingredients to create a style. That’s the beauty of it: it’s the mystery of creativity, and creativity has no boundaries.”
