Six Gallery — The New Milanese Design Oasis
In a city, Milan, marked by austere facades and big closed gates, there is always something special in discovering a new hidden courtyard. A sense of thrilling delight that the recently opened Six Gallery - in Via Scaldasole n°7 - satisfies with panache.
Looking from the street, the sole window on the clean facade offers a preview of the verdant and peaceful oasis. Moving in, an open-air patio acts as a filter between the city and the interior, where a small courtyard leads the way to three distinctive spaces: the design gallery, the Sixième bistro and the floral design boutique called Irene.
Designed by David Lopez Quincoces and Fanny Bauer Grung - the duo behind architecture studio Quincoces-Dragò - together with art director Samuele Savio, the space - with its furniture and plants - feels like it has been there forever. And in one sense it has.
A former sixteenth century monastery, the main structure of the building - with the rawness of its distinctive vaulted ceilings - was left relatively untouched by the architects. Who decided to intervene with few, but decisive interventions: a spectacular skylight in the central room, water pipes left visible as graphic compositions and a dark smoky-grey coating that highlights the original brick walls. The austere ensemble - which is furnished with high-end designs by Gió Ponti, Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret, as well as with Vietnamese vases and modern Scandinavian furniture - is inhabited by a lush jungle of tropical plants.
Initiated by Italian entrepreneur Mauro Orlandelli - who wanted to create "a holistic container, where the result is superior to the sum of its parts" - Six Gallery is a collaborative and multidisciplinary project that brings together music, plants, design, architecture and, of course, food. So, while Italian flower designer Irene Cuzzaniti realises delicate and thoughtful plant & flower compositions in her boutique Irene, Sergio Carnevale - a food affectionate and drummer of the Italian alternative rock band Bluvertigo - releases his gastronomy fantasies in the bistro, which serves a refreshing and simple seasonal menu.
For more info: six-gallery.com
