Immersed in Milan's Porta Romana district, there is a 19th century villa, built in modern Lombard style and surrounded by a hortus conclusus, a 10,000 square meters garden with tall lime trees and Lebanese cedars.

The building has been abandoned after hosting for over a century a shelter for sick people, but a redevelopment project signed by Michele De Lucchi will soon transform the complex between Via Orti and Via Lamarmora in 82 residences that have as their focal point the large garden.

Exclusively for the Horti housing project and in collaboration with Milano Contract District, the design master has also reinterpreted one of the kitchens he conceived for Ernestomeda. These feature a new ash leather worked with a CNC milling machine, creating a regular texture that makes the light vibrate. The wood contrasts with the dark and shiny marble top, bringing to life a contemporary and welcoming environment.

The kitchen cladding is inspired by Cataste, a series of sketches and wood carvings by Michele De Lucchi, for which “there will never be a change of use, a functional adjustment, a technological change, a real estate agreement, an appraisal, a new lifestyle that will undermine the architectural value of a wooden Catasta.”