House tour: inside a colour-filled rooftop apartment in Naples
In 1953, Italian author Anna Maria Ortese was forced to flee her hometown when she wrote a brutally honest (and critically acclaimed) collection of stories about the good, the bad and the positively Goyaesque of post-WWII Naples. Almost 70 years later, architect Giuliano Andrea dell’Uva is convinced he lives in one of her stories’ real locations. “I was reading Il Mare Non Bagna Napoli [The Sea Does Not Reach Naples] when I first laid eyes on my house, on top of a very decadent late-1700s building,” says dell’Uva, “and I thought, and I am now sure of it, that [Ortese’s] observatory of the city was exactly from here.”
On the terrace, Exteta Locus Solus chairs (1964) by Gae Aulenti; 1950s Vietri vase (on table); glazed ceramic hand-kneaded floor tiles by Galleria Elena Superfici.
Like Ortese before him, dell’Uva loves Naples, warts and all, and his house-hunting search had focused more on specific locales and how each place related to its city than on the houses themselves. “I liked the spontaneous coexistence of aristocratic architecture and people’s markets in the Rione Sanità area,” he recalls, “and as for the historic centre [Centro Storico], I would have liked to breathe in its stratified monumentality.”
He came full circle when he saw this place in Chiaia, the waterfront neighbourhood of his childhood. “It had thick walls, rooms with high ceilings and old paint hidden beneath layers and layers of plaster, waiting for me to discover it,” he says. “Here, I can watch the waves from my think tank while my ideas take shape.”
In the living room, sofa by Rodolfo Dordoni for Cassina; lamp by Sebastian Wrong for Flos.
The architect’s ideas do take on many forms. His work has reached the international circuit, but mostly keeps him in Naples and around southern Italy, between trips to Milan, with Capri a favourite spot in which he has created and co-owns a small hotel. He’s the creative director of the furnishing line of iconic fabric producer Livio de Simone (the late designer himself Naples-born), made famous by the likes of Capri’s high society and Audrey Hepburn. He’s also overseen the renovations of grand villas and luxury apartments, boutique hotels, lounge bars and cafes.
Dell’Uva’s mobile phone rings endlessly and he’s a hard man to pin down. “I have to be honest, I have a rather busy working life and it is difficult to reconcile it with my private life,” he admits, but in the quiet atmosphere of his top-floor home, he’s able to pause for reflection. His work with local brands such as much-loved pasticceria Giovanni Scaturchio reveal the heart of his business and his life. “This is Naples,” he says of his apartment’s locale, “the Naples that I wanted for me; working class and elegant together.”
On the upper floor, daybed with Livio de Simone fabric; yellow iron stairs by Giuliano Andrea dell’Uva; Vitra Potence wall lamp by Jean Prouvé.
Once dell’Uva found his place in Naples, he needed to reconcile the interior with that beloved outside world. First, he felt, he would strip it back to its original state and start again. Then, he invited in new light and fluidity by arranging split levels within the living room’s soaring ceiling height, before opening it all up to the roof terrace planted liberally to assure privacy from neighbouring apartments.
Architecture is clearly in his blood, and he speaks fondly of the family homes designed by his great-grandfather, who was also an architect. He references his nostalgia in his mixing of antique heirlooms with recently acquired designer pieces. “The houses that I like [and] those where I grew up are like that,” dell’Uva explains. “Every age has produced something beautiful, so everything can coexist peacefully.” The marble effect of the paint he uncovered beneath the layers of plaster inspired his use of granite and ancient breccia in the otherwise contemporary kitchen.
In the kitchen, vintage table and Gio Ponti chairs; 081 03 Reaction Poetique centrepiece for Cassina by Jaime Hayon, on black granite island.
p>The terrace’s tiled floor pays homage to that of the Palazzo Butera, further south in Palermo, and furnishings designed by Gio Ponti for the city’s Royal Continental Hotel take pride of place. “I wanted Ponti’s designs to tell a kind of international hotel story of the city.”
There are so many stories of the city, and it is this richness of place and history that keeps dell’Uva in Naples. “All around me here is the typical daily life of Naples; neo-melodic music in the middle of the afternoon, saints in procession with small musical bands, salty smells from the sea. This is the cheerful, easygoing Naples — the Naples that I love.”
In the living room, custom lacquered iron fireplace; LC2 sofa and armchair by Le Corbusier for Cassina; Chess table by Front for Moooi; Arch coffee table by Front for Thonet.
Visit: giulianoandreadelluva.it