Student housing in Milan’s museum district

The Ortica district in Milan’s eastern suburbs is one of the city’s most vibrant neighbourhoods, nicknamed the “museum district” due to the numerous murals that adorn the buildings. Here, at 7 Via Pitteri, is Aria Hub, a student residence housed in an early 20th century building renovated by Dainelli Studio. “The aim of our project was to renovate a historical building and give it a fresh, contemporary feel,” explains architect Marzia Dainelli. “Aria is the name of the investment company, to which we added the word Hub to indicate its function as a meeting place. We will soon start renovating the lower-floor business premises to house a dining and socialisation space.”
As a cohousing project, Area Hub aspires to be a place where young people can gather and share experiences. An all-Italian version of the famous house in the sitcom Friends, it has four floors in which the common areas, living room and laundry room are located on the first floor and the eight apartments of different sizes and layouts on the upper floors. As indicated in the names given to each apartment (Sempione, Cairoli, Isola, Gioia, Navigli, Brera and NoLo in reference to the city’s neighbourhoods), the spaces have a distinctly Italian style and make use of specific materials and finishes, including a digitally printed ceramic tile collection called the Monoscopio line which was specially created for the project. “We designed a new custom tile collection for Ceramica Bardelli called Monoscopio that would underscore the connection between past and present, between the colours that define the various spaces,” explains Dainelli. “With its clear reference to Giò Ponti, it adds a touch of modernity in terms of the choice of colours while evoking the historical nature of the building through the use of small-size terrazzo tiles.” The floor simulates the material texture of typical Milanese terrazzo with a light bas-relief effect combined with a polished and matt grooved surface. “Our style is based on customisation and restoration,” continues the architect. “We salvaged everything we could: floors, cornices, staircases, rosettes, doors and windows. But the most challenging task of all was to create a sense of unity between the very different situations found in the various apartments while creating something new that would serve as the common thread running through all the interventions. A large number of highly varied materials were already present: from the stone on the stairs to the coloured marble in the various rooms and the terrazzo tiles, a sense of continuous variation that we felt could serve as a common theme. “The saturated hues complement the bright colours already present, the ceilings and the wall strip concealing the roller shutter housing seek to create a softer ambience and add a touch of freshness and sophistication. The colours used in the rooms are reflected in the new tiles.”