Casa Mollino, the Mystical Work of a Polymathic Genius
Italian visionary Carlo Mollino embodies the archetype of the total creator – a free spirit whose work defies classification. Architect, designer, photographer, writer, skier, aerobatic pilot, and professor at the Turin Polytechnic, he moved through the 20th century as a true maverick, imprinting each project with his audacious vision. In the 1930s, he was among the few to infuse Surrealism into the Modern Movement, anticipating contemporary architecture.
His obsessive pursuit of detail found its ultimate expression in a singular space: his Turin apartment, now a museum curated by Fulvio and Napoleone Ferrari, father and son, ardent admirers of his work.
Rented in 1960, this retreat within Villa Avondo – a French-style residence from 1888 on the banks of the Po – became his secret sanctuary.
Unlike his other homes, he never lived there. Over eight years, he composed an intimate theatre, a mystical and esoteric space. According to Fulvio Ferrari, the house is a “modern Book of the Dead,” written not with ink, but with “tiles, carpets, mirrors, and second-hand objects.”
In the entrance hall, touches of gold evoke both baroque splendor and divine light. The floor is covered in Vietri ceramic tiles, one of the most vibrant and colorful expressions of Italian craftsmanship. Japanese-inspired wooden and plexiglass partitions subtly define the space whilst creating an intimate atmosphere.
Beneath the imposing Japanese paper lanterns of the living and dining rooms, plush carpeting layered under kilim rugs grounds the space elegantly.
Nature-themed wallpapers bring the outdoors in, whilst strategically placed mirrors multiply perspectives and play with natural light.
Mollino’s furniture, a masterful blend of his own designs and curated finds, thrives on contrast.
Saarinen’s Tulip chairs, their organic curves floating in midair, encircle a marble dining table of his own making – a sleek, aerodynamic form recalling race cars, another of his many passions.
Each room is staged.
One striking focal point sits beneath a sublime Venini chandelier: two massive Tridacna clamshells leading to a balcony with an unobstructed view of the Po river. They evoke homes abandoned by giant mollusks – a metaphor for the house Mollino would ultimately leave behind.
Among the most intriguing elements is a collection of pinned butterflies. Mollino was fascinated by metamorphosis in all its forms – whether the biological transformation of the butterfly or the transfiguration of a body through pose, light, and framing in photography.
Mollino’s bedroom, with its sumptuous drapery, is conceived as a funerary antechamber – its door salvaged from an aircraft – a nod to the pharaonic tombs of ancient Egypt.
His bed, sculpted with entwined serpents like a ceremonial boat, seems ready to sail toward eternity.
Casa Mollino is an architecture of transition, a space where opposites merge and clash: life and death, nature and artifice, craftsmanship and technology. An environment full of interest and detail, where tradition and modernity coexist.
As Mollino wrote: “Anyone who is not a beast and therefore has the awareness and dignity of a human being, the poorest human being who has never reneged on his own individuality, will feel the need to be enchanted and to enchant, to express himself.”
Shop the look
