Hotel La Palma, Capri’s historic hotel built in 1822 just a few steps away from the famous Piazzetta, has recently been reinvented by Oetker Collection, which has, however, maintained and indeed enhanced the original spirit of the historic Locanda Pagano, which hosted artists, poets, writers and musicians from all over the world. The hotel thus returns to being an exclusive icon of hospitality, a mythical place of Mediterranean summers, thanks to the redesign by Francis Sultana, a well-known interior designer of Maltese origin who also oversaw the restyle of the splendid rooftop Restaurant & Bar Bianca.
Poliform contract, the brand’s division dedicated to made-to-measure projects, which was entrusted with the realisation of fixed furnishings of the entire project, collaborated with Friul Mosaic for the evocative rooftop areas to create counters and bar islands covered with marble and Venetian enamel tiles in various sizes. “Those on the rooftop are inspired by the caftans worn by the ladies in Capri, I was thinking of vintage Missoni, or Valentino, but also the exoticism in Renzo Mongiardino’s design. Then there are the palm trees, which are part of the overall signature”. Francis Sultana, the designer behind the extraordinary renovation, tells us: “I wanted the mosaics to be artisanal, not industrial, to speak of high fashion“.
Friul Mosaic was chosen precisely because of the sartorial precision with which in its workshop in San Martino al Tagliamento it executes its works entirely by hand according to the ancient traditions of the Master Mosaicists, handed down by its founder, William Bertoia. The mosaics in the Bianca Rooftop Restaurant & Bar, the counters on the pool terrace and inside the hotel restaurant were made from marble and Venetian enamel using tesserae of various sizes and a colour palette with various shades of blue, aquamarine and gold inserts. In this case, the laying of the mosaic was almost entirely carried out in Friul Mosaic’s workshop: the counters were then transported to Capri already covered in mosaic. Installation on site was still necessary, but most of the work had already been done, which made it possible to streamline and speed up the process on site. Francis Sultana himself sketched the mosaics, which were then worked on by Friul Mosaic for the best possible rendering of the subjects in the texture of the tiles.
