Design Conversations

If you want to visit a LAGO Appartamento, it’s really quite simple: just figure out which one is closest, make an appointment with the tenant, and you’re there! To this end, taking a peek online you can see that there are tons of opportunities to check out the by now famous living showroom.

But what exactly is going on in the Appartamenti?

Each calendar of events is chock full of cooking classes, discussions, and shows that become more than anything else perfect occasions for meeting new people, coming up with ideas and projects, and forming partnerships. In sum, it’s a different way of living life at home and our tenants are ably setting a shining example. By now they have become real PR professionals, with their constantly changing agendas. And so, for all of those who can’t stay glued to the Internet to keep themselves updated, I decided to take stock and see what’s fermenting in the Appartamento project.

Do you want to get into the kitchen to express your inner chef? Tuesday, March 15 was the inauguration of 4 themed events at the Venice Appartamento in which Martino di Stefano, a chef from Treviso, will lead you through the flavorful and colorful culinary world.

If you were in Turin and missed the Lighting Design event, you will have another chance to schedule a walk through the city of gianduiotto. On Friday, March 25th, in fact, Marco’s office-home will be transformed into a stage where poetry and music mix to create a truly entertaining evening of live performance. But it doesn’t end there: Tuesday, March 29, again at Via Massena 25, will be the inauguration of the video art project, Pontepolo…here, you can see what it is about!

Following the stunning success of Anna’s tigelle, last Wednesday afternoon in the Appartamento of Bologna was spent in the kitchen, where the tenant’s mamma revealed the ABCs of Bolognese cooking … the participants returned home still licking their fingers!

In Milan, everything is upside down, really. In honor of the famed Milan Design Week, the Appartamento will get a whole new look. But the rubble and scaffolding did not stop our valiant tenants, who, last Wednesday, temporarily switched to a space on the ground floor of Via Brera no. 30 and hosted Cyberdomus on the occasion of the Digital Experience Festival. Now they will take a break to get ready for Fuorisalone … be sure not to miss it!!!

Et dulcis in fundo, coming soon to your screens will be the inauguration of the Appartamento in Bergamo. Marta and Fabio have already begun keeping a diary of the work in progress … In the meantime, if you want to get to know the next tenants who will open their doors to you, you will find a brief presentation in the Appartamento blog. For the rest, stay tuned!

And with Turin there are five. Five LAGO hot spots in five cornerstone cities and all open beginning with the first in April 2010: Milan-Brera, Venice, Bologna, Riccione and…now Turin! The opening of the fifth LAGO Appartamento – on via Massena 25 in Turin – was a huge success and the event was followed closely by the press even before Saturday, 15 January, the day of the opening. Just think that, yesterday (and so the morning after the opening), the tenant, Marco, was already invited to give a talk about the project and his experience as a tenant.

But how did the evening go? Let’s say it was characterized by lots of cheer, serious and not-so-serious talk and the fusion cooking of Nori Muramatsu (a Japanese chef from Piedmont), in collaboration with Nao, the tenant’s girlfriend…here they are at work, preparing sushi and tea for the guests.

Excellent sushi, I must say. And it was devoured without restraint by the guests who came and went and exited and entered the Appartamento throughout the whole evening. I tasted only two pieces of maki (sob, sob), but they were truly exquisite! Just to give you an idea of the attack on the sushi…

The Appartamento stayed open until 10pm. The last guests made their exit around 1am! A busy evening, but very fun…you can take a look at what happened in the slide show below…

There was even a conjurer, Gian Vito Svito, who left everyone amazed! I admit I tried to cheat, to trip him up, but I did not succeed! He always guessed the card I had fished out without seeing it…

In sum, a grand evening! Marco has already put the photos online, those of the professional photographer naturally…Take a look!

Until next time.

A few days ago, we gave it a small preview and yesterday we were finally able to see, with our very own eyes, the second incarnation of the Appartamento project. This time the navigator brings us to Bologna on Via Dodici Giugno, Number 5, and more precisely in front of a small, early twentieth-century building. Chatter and constant hustle and bustle carry us straight to the apartment door: as always, it is unnecessary to ring or even ask permission to enter….the door is open.

We are immediately met with the smiling welcome of the man of the house, Alessandro. Following our cordial greetings he returns to entertain the other guests who, being curious, are circulating throughout the Appartamento.
The hub of the house, which is also an office, is a corridor/non-corridor off of which open all of the rooms.

The objects and colors clearly reflect the world of our tenant. The principle colors in fact alternate between blue and red, calling to mind the two companies with which the man of the house collaborates: BMW and Ducati.

On the walls, paintings by Gilberto Olivi give the interior a final artistic touch.
Continuing the “domestic tour,” at a certain point one encounters Alessandro’s mama, co-protagonist of the event and undisputed queen of the kitchen (Lago, obviously).

Signora Anna, armed with a rolling pin and an apron, spent almost the whole evening baking tigelle, using upwards of 10 kilograms of flour (not even she could tell me how many she made!).
Dulcis in fundo, and this is a situation that truly calls for the phrase – do you know what Alessandro’s greatest passion is? Sweets! It goes without saying that he delighted us with a series of cakes that he made himself and in particular a zuppa inglese which provided a beautiful finish to the evening…thank you!