Along Viale Principe Amedeo, the historic axis connecting Roman Rimini to its Marina — where the celebrated Kursaal and the city’s first seaside resort once stood — nestled beneath the canopy of large plane trees, stands “Villa Norma”: an early-1950s urban residence that still preserves the understated elegance of its rationalist design.
Designed by the renowned Bolognese architect Enea Trenti, the villa offers GGA Architetti the opportunity to completely reconfigure the approximately 200 sqm second floor of the building.
The interior design project reinterprets the essential geometries of the architecture through a contemporary lens, redefining the spaces through a rigorous and restrained language.
A large portal clearly marks the transition between the living and sleeping areas, organising the house into two distinct yet fluidly connected realms. Light is the true protagonist of the interiors. At the entrance, a large pivoting brass disc, carved into the apartment’s only structural wall, rotates on its axis, filtering and reflecting light through ever-changing effects. On the south-east façade, expansive sliding openings allow natural light to penetrate deep into the living area.
Here, two geometric elements stand in dialogue and define the space: the large circular concrete dining table and the suspended brass-and-travertine parallelepiped forming the kitchen island.
The defining theme of the interior design revolves around a continuous black boiserie that runs throughout the entire apartment, connecting the living and sleeping areas through a single architectural gesture.
Beyond integrating storage, technical systems, and doorways, the boiserie establishes the project’s graphic identity: the horizontal handle is conceived as a continuous incision carved into the thickness of the timber cladding, becoming the “fil rouge” that ties together the different spaces of the house.
The material palette is intentionally restrained, allowing for a clear and coherent reading of the contrasts between surfaces. Alongside the black-stained oak boiserie, the interiors are enriched by Roman travertine used in the more delicate claddings, thermally treated oak flooring laid in a continuous Hungarian point pattern, as well as metal and brass used in the finishing details throughout.