Catellani & Smith shapes the light of Casa Melagrana

Spell-bound by the “Pearl of the Tyrrhenian”, Welsh poet Dylan Thomas once famously mused: ‘Lucky Napoleon! This is a most beautiful island’. Indeed, with its crimson-colored sunsets and clear turquoise waters, the Island of Elba is a place of pristine beauty – a precious treasure chest of nature, history and poetry. Nestled on the island’s western coast, known as Costa del Sole, is the picturesque village of Seccheto, and, perched atop a hill, stands the delightful Casa Melagrana, a traditional Elban house built in a minimal style that makes ample use of natural, local materials. The rustic atmosphere, dominated by the warm tones of ocher and amber, is splendidly enhanced by Catellani & Smith through an array of lamps that are more than mere lighting devices, revealing the spirit and the importance of a painstaking work of artisanal craftsmanship. Throughout the 100 square-meter surface of Casa Melagrana, an assortment of lighting creations combine to sketch out a sort of emotional and sensory journey, where light becomes art in the eyes of those who know how to look. The foyer features a large Turciù piece, with flexible brass arms that can be twisted and intertwined at will. Entering the home, we get a striking impression of spaciousness thanks to an open-plan arrangement skillfully divided between the kitchen, the cozy living area and the quaint mezzanine created during the renovation of the roof. The living room houses the pendant Fil de Fer lamp, a mass of meandering aluminum wire anodized in gold color and dotted with tiny light bulbs, while the kitchen is lit by a suspended Lucenera composition in the version with black carbon tube. In the mezzanine, instead, the warm and welcoming mood is created by a Wa Wa lamp with brass base and structure, copper sticks, and luminous glass lenses that paint fascinating light circles on the wall. The perfection of the circle recurs again in the other piece chosen for this space, Sorry Giotto, displayed here in its table version. The hand-painted blue iron ring conceals within it small LED sources which illuminate the pure and essential shape. As we continue towards the sleeping quarters, we encounter the “jagged” light effects of the PostKrisi collection. A PostKrisi 49 lamp, in hand-painted white fiberglass with gold-leaf inner coating, delicately descends from the ceiling with a bewitchingly “imperfect” effect, as light seeps out of the lampshade’s irregular fringes. To the side of the bed, instead, stands a PostKrisi F64 made of two fiberglass hemispheres that trap light inside, only to diffuse it onto the wall through the uneven and intermittent opening. Finally, both the bedroom area and living area welcome the discreet beauty of Sweet Light, a small luminous sphere in brass-colored aluminum wire that features a convenient touch-dimming system.