idyll in the sun - ASA Studio Albanese

PA N TELLER I A
I DY L L I N T H E SU N
On a remote volcanic island south of Sicily,
a renowned Italian architect creates his own personal Eden
T E X T BY M ICH A E L L A S SE L L
PHOTO G R A PH Y BY F R A NCE S CO B OL I S
The pergola on designer Flavio Albanese’s compound
on the island of Pantelleria contains a Tokyo Pop lounge
chair by Tokujin Yoshioka and low-slung benches
covered in pillows. FACING PAGE: In a hallway, the sofa is
by Giuseppe Viganò for Bonacina, and the lamp is from
Driade; in the room beyond are an armoire from Borneo,
photo portraits by Christian Boltanski, and a vintage
sofa from the historic Hotel Des Palmes in Palermo, Sicily.
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The Italian island of Pantelleria lies between Sicily and Tunisia,
closer to Africa than Europe. Scarcely known in the U.S., the Mediterranean outpost has had its share of celebrity residents, including
French film icon Gérard Depardieu and Calypso, the nymph of Homer’s Odyssey. Since the late 1970s Pantelleria has also been home, at
least some of the time, to the internationally renowned Italian architect and designer Flavio Albanese.
A dedicated modernist, Albanese creates environments that are angular, clean, and white—in a word, urban. But when he first saw the
hardscrabble volcanic landscape of Pantelleria, he says, the effect
was “as if I had been electrocuted. I had found my Shangri-la, my physical and spiritual Eden.” Part of the attraction was the close relationship of the island’s indigenous architecture to nature. In fact, he built
his earth-loving getaway from a cluster of existing “dammusi,” domed
lava-stone buildings unique to the prehistoric native people.
The property is gently terraced, with lava walls and such creature
comforts as a 25-meter pool and a natural amphitheater for concerts and
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Albanese’s photography collection, displayed in
the dining area, includes images by Robert Mapplethorpe and Karl Lagerfeld. The chairs with cotton
slipcovers are by Philippe Starck for Driade. FACING
PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: An outdoor living room
with furniture by Paola Lenti under a linen tent from
Kurdistan; a stainless steel and rattan armchair by
Ron Arad sits beside an arched window in the
master bedroom. Chairs by Starck and a series of
small paintings by Luigi Stoisa in the dining room.
film screenings. His goal was to make as little impact on the environment as possible. “I call it my silent project—I have only added small
fragments to what was already there,” says Albanese, who also designed
the Pantelleria airport terminal in a more overtly modernist mode.
He filled his rooms, his pergolas, and tented terraces with a mix of
antiques and tribal carvings from around the world, as well as with
contemporary furnishings from Milan. Hand-hewn chairs from the
South Pacific sit beside sleek sofas and rotating works from his collection of photography and paintings. On the magical island of Pantelleria, Albanese is a contented curator with a touch of Prospero in
him. ORIGINAL TEXT BY LUCA SELVI. Originally published in ELLE
DECORATION Netherlands.
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