Porta Romana Apartment

The owner is an avid collector of vintage pieces and textiles, so the project was conceived not to compete with what she had gathered, but to give it a considered architectural frame. The original floors, painted ceilings and structure of the house were preserved; the intervention focused instead on defining a new palette and introducing materials capable of bringing clarity and cohesion to the collection.

Garlands and decorative cornices continue to unfold overhead. Rather than echoing their historic language, the new materials offer a deliberate counterpoint: lacquered black gives depth to an entire wall, mustard upholstery adds warmth, and brass introduces measured points of light. Together, they establish a contemporary material vocabulary while allowing the apartment’s original character to remain fully legible.

Colour takes its cue from the owner’s textiles and objects. Botanical prints animate the cushions, while the tactile contrast between lacquer, fabric, resin and metal gives the rooms their rhythm. In the bathrooms, grey resin and botanical wallpaper form a restrained backdrop for collected pieces: a basin set upon the cast-iron base of an antique sewing machine, and empty period frames displayed as objects in their own right.

This is a period home without period pastiche. Its transformation lies chiefly in the precision of its palette and the dialogue between new materials, original architecture and a deeply personal collection.