Nautical technique for Villino Liberty Cagiati

In both Aschieri’s and Capponi’s buildings, one of the most interesting elements of the interiors is the condominium staircase. Both are helicoidal in shape (Capponi’s is earlier), both spiral upwards in an upward movement, made even more dynamic by the light falling from above and the essentialitỳ of the structure and its details. In villino Calgiati, as in many Art Nouveau villas, one of the most interesting elements of the interior is the condominium staircase. The condominium staircase, with its traditional layout, rather applies to the decorative and detailing elements, which continue inside some of the exterior decorations made of wrought iron with vine shoots, polychrome majolica applied to the façade, and paintings depicting a wide range of flowers typical of Art Nouveau art of the period.

The renovation project by architect Carmen Andriani, concerns the turret of the Calgiati cottage, located at the top̀ of the cottage, as a junction between the domestic rooms at the base and two large terraces at different levels. The project coagulates in the design of the new staircase, the upper gallery and the access to the two terraces, as well as highlighting the double height of about six metres through two vertical iron bookcases.

The gallery is in the form of a flattened hull, made with nautical technique: Iron shapes in succession have wrapped the pre-existing structure and shaped the non-woven fabric applied in several̀ layers and alternating with resins, according to the nautical technique of making hulls. The gallery is detached from the back wall and, through the use of a double line of LED lights hidden in the section, also appears detached from the wall to which it is actually anchored. The two full-height bookcases measure the entiretỳ of the space and mark its longest side.

The staircase itself is an independent element; the last steps are wider planes that fan out to the ground but never touch it. Each element is recognisable for itself and detached from its neighbours. The effect is one of floating. The thicknesses of the tops are made of aluminium tubs filled with fine-grained micro cements, clear in paste and finished with resin. The railing, also custom-made, is split in its vertical elements, divided by horizontal cables that gradually thicken, budding a metal leaf (the same used for the large iron door separating the room from the rest of the house). The handrail, metallic and flat, ends, without touching the back wall, with a large iron semicircle, curled in on itself, a sort of ‘capriccio’ of vague floral and abstract memory. The staircase is not only used to climb from one floor to another but accompanies the ascending movement of the body in space, almost as if it were a light dance suspended from the ground.