Contemporary serenity – ‘Vincenzo De Cotiis Interior’ by Sarah Medford and Adrian Madlener

Dear readers, grey is one of my favorite color, especially during winter time that one can always find a variations of grey appears in multiple menswear collection, home furnishings and even interior design projects, from the soothing and soft heather grey and chalk grey flannel, to a much solid, deep and sometimes industrial-looking grey from charcoal, steel and cement grey etc., these shades are pretty sophisticated and versatile when putting together, whether it’s simply your daily outfit ensemble, or as an upholstering fabric for one’s home, grey is almost a flawless color to be used. Perhaps that’s why I was intrigued by the latest book of the sought-after Italian architect and artist, Mr. Vincenzo De Cotiis, with its sumptuous and artistic cover of the book in the luxurious steel grey color, and the snapshot of this Italian artist’s interior work.

Published by Rizzoli USA; written by Ms. Sarah Medford, the contributing editor of design, culture and lifestyle at WSJ Magazine and Off Duty, and Mr. Adrian Madlener, the New York–based writer and curator specializes in sustainability in art, architecture, and design, this luxurious copy is the first book which gathered the crème de la crème of Vincenzo’s work: predominantly the eye-catching and spectacular projects, plus some selective sketches and the plans of the featured interior projects. With the exceptional photographic skills captured by photographer, Mr. Martin Morrell, this book enables readers to dive into the artistic world of Vincenzo in a relaxing way, taking a closer look with his intelligence, taste and sensibility over interior design by the use of some exceptional materials, juxtaposing the unusual shape of furniture and decorative objects, and create a space that is modern, serene yet tastefully eccentric at the same time.

Photo credit: Martin Morrell

Born in Gonzaga, Italy, and studied architecture at the Politencnico di Milano, Vincenzo founded his studio in Milan and his work has been frequently appeared in Architectural Digest’s AD100 lists among other world-renowned peers in the industry. Known for his audacity, and contemporary approach to strip down centuries-old architecture, then refurbishes it to create a space that conveys the significance of art and history, and the essence of a tasteful contemporary living by surrounding oneself with unique and eccentric artistic objects, furniture and upholstering materials. This book is an immaculate collection of projects which done by Vincenzo, from grandiose Palazzo Giustinian Lolin in Venice, to Palazzo Bonacossa, Palazzo Belgioioso and Palazzo Giardini in Milan, each of them are intriguing and show-stopping from one to another, perhaps it’s the poetic ambient created through the cleverly use of marble, onyx and even fiberglass for the fixtures, or the eccentric and sculptural shapes of custom-made furniture that made with unconventional materials, and upholstered with luxurious velvety fabric in antique and distressed palette, with the contrast of the sleek metallic materials and historic architectural backdrop, looking at the interior design by Vicenzo, I somehow have a feeling like appreciating two different genre of painting at the same time – the eccentric Dadaism and a minimalistic abstract or impressionism – while one has certain quirkiness, a certain wit that pushes and questioning the art genre to another level, the other one gives you a the more serene, stylish stillness that enables one to contemplate, to slow down and take a look with the certain detail closely, and question how oddly it was designed and crafted, and how strangely these different genre of art can co-exist within a space that is so tasteful, luxurious and modern, just like putting different shades of grey together but it still looks sophisticated and luxurious.

Let me know your thoughts about this book and Vicenzo’s work after having a sneak peek here, and let me know how did you find his work fascinates you.

Image courtesy of Rizzoli USA, photo credit: Martin Morrell.

https://www.rizzoliusa.com/book/9780847869787/