Milan‘s Torre Velasca, designed by BBPR in 1958, is about to become home to 72 luxury residences. The first phase launched this autumn. Buyers will live inside one of the city’s best-known examples of brutalist architecture.
Inside the torre velasca residences
The new Torre Velasca Residences occupy the upper floors of the tower. The project covers levels 19 and 26. The rest of the building is a hotel operated by METT Hotels & Resorts. The residences were curated by Matteo Thun & Partners.
Thun’s design responds to the tower’s prominent place in the Milanese skyline. It also draws on the avant-garde spirit of its original architects. The interiors reference 20th-century modernism but meet 21st-century needs, including modern building services and daily conveniences.
The scope went beyond the apartments. The studio also reworked shared spaces, including the main reception, the welcome lobby at the rear of the ground floor, and the corridors.
Thun describes his method in a statement: “Reinterpretation is our key methodology when engaging with a legacy. At Torre Velasca, we allowed the masters and the building itself to speak, imagining a way of living within it that could accompany the building a little further into the future, adding a new chapter to its history.”
The studio chose not to fight the existing building. “In our design, we did not seek contrast with the existing building,” Thun says. “Instead, we started building our colour codes from the iconic pink plaster and the green and blue tiles of Torre Velasca.”
Thun’s feel for tile and surface also shows in his work with Florim, where Venetian-inspired porcelain stoneware carries the same sense of material memory. Florim and Matteo Thun’s Venetian Porcelain Stoneware Collection offers a closer look at his palette.
Some spaces needed no changes at all. Thun points to the loggias and the rooftop, which he describes as having an almost sacred quality. “Sometimes designing also means recognising when there is no need to add anything,” he says.
Thun’s palette and furnishings draw on Milanese design from the 1950s through the 1980s. The studio worked with Molteni, Oluce, Cassina and Dedar. Each company helped shape Milan’s reputation as an international design capital.
Thun frames the result as continuity. “Different eras and locally rooted realities come together in a shared narrative of evolution and continuity: the ability to change over time while maintaining an intact sense of identity.”
Sunset Hospitality will operate the residences. The company will provide resident services intended to make daily life run smoothly. Its role matches the level of finish that the tower and the new interiors demand.
Thun says the project changed how the team approached its work. “Although the project focused on interior design, Torre Velasca first and foremost challenged us to think and work as architects. Every time we crossed the building’s threshold, we discovered something new. It was, in every sense, a lesson in architecture.”
The architects treated the apartments and the city as one system. “Working within its walls meant constantly engaging with composition, construction details, and the relationship between the building and the city,” Thun’s team explains. “Domestic space and urban space cannot be conceived as separate entities, but rather as parts of a single, deeply interconnected system.”
Thun credits the building with teaching the team. “In attempting to intervene in a work of architecture so rich in meaning, we received far more than we were able to give back.”
Thun’s respect for Milanese design traditions has a parallel in how Italian designers treat everyday objects. Carlo Ratti on Everyday Objects and Italian Design shows how small details can reveal a wider design philosophy.
For buyers, the Torre Velasca Residences offer more than a new address. They offer a chance to live inside a building that has shaped Milan’s skyline since 1958, with interiors that treat its history as a starting point.
Source: wallpaper.com
Frequently asked questions
How many luxury residences are being created in Milan’s Torre Velasca?
The Torre Velasca project will include 72 luxury residences in the tower, designed by Matteo Thun & Partners. The first phase launched in the autumn.
Which floors of Torre Velasca will the new residences occupy?
The Torre Velasca Residences occupy the upper floors of the tower, covering levels 19 and 26. The rest of the building is a hotel operated by METT Hotels & Resorts.
Who will operate the Torre Velasca Residences?
Sunset Hospitality will operate the residences and provide resident services intended to make daily life run smoothly.
Who designed the original Torre Velasca tower in Milan?
Torre Velasca was designed by BBPR in 1958. The new residences were designed by Matteo Thun & Partners.
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