For Pasquale Natuzzi Junior, creative director of his father’s eponymous furniture company, looking back to look forward is something he does often, for both work and home. Take the renovation of his trullo house in Santeramo in Colle, for example, in an area surrounded by canyons and sea caves, artisans and vineyards, just under an hour’s drive from Bari, the capital of Puglia. “I wanted to use the philosophy of less is more,” he says, “remaining loyal to the traditional cone-roofed architecture of the trulli houses in the area but internally trying to redesign its shapes through very contemporary materials and elements.”
In the living room in Pasquale Natuzzi Junior’s trullo house, Natuzzi Italia Penelope armchairs by Mauro Lipparini; Herman pouf and Elsa floor lamp; one-off wood Tronco chair, made by local artisans; on the mantel, Natuzzi Italia Castel del Monte (left) and Faces (right) plates and limited-edition dSklo sculpture.
Born and raised in the Apulian region — his father, Pasquale, first established the business as a small workshop handcrafting sofas in 1959 — Pasquale Junior maintains that the geographical beauty and cultural heritage of Puglia has always served as inspiration for everything the 60-year-old family-run company does. “Here we have our own style thanks to our location, surrounded by hills and amazing seas to areas so rich with red earth and olive trees,” he says.
“Our past is our present in the way we express our creativity — it wouldn’t be the same if we were manufacturing nice sofas out of an industrial zone, surrounded by concrete walls, floors and chimneys. Here we breathe in new, fresh, colourful air every day.”
Pasquale Junior at Masseria Brancati, a historic Puglia farmhouse that features an ancient olive grove dating back thousands of years.
To this end, in restoring his trullo two years ago, he has used a ‘contamination’ of materials, as he calls it, and forms to lend depth to an otherwise cool and calm space. Each of its three cones provides a separate space for an open-plan kitchen, living and dining area, a bedroom and a bathroom. Against the pared- back simplicity of smooth, whitewashed plastered walls, Pasquale Junior has juxtaposed textures such as local fine-grained ‘trani’ limestone, used on the floor and walls of the kitchen, and lunar quartz around alcove arches.
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The floor adds another dimension again, made from horizontally sliced rounds of poplar branches pressed together. “It offers another expression of design contamination and experimentation, which brings extra meaning to the space,” Pasquale Junior says. Added to the mix are modern materials such as steel.
Working with Natuzzi’s inhouse architects, Pasquale Junior has carved out niches within the dry-stone walls to fit floating shelves, and designed a sleek kitchen worktop, with minimal support, to allow air and light to flow easily throughout the multi-functional living space.
In another view of the living room, Traccia ‘chicken leg’ table by Meret Oppenheim; Kyklos sculpture (on Traccia table) by Giacomo Benevelli; Catellani & Smith Fil de Fer pendant light.
It’s also the ideal testing ground for new Natuzzi pieces. “I like to be the first one to try out new designs in my own space,” he says. So here in the living room, such design collectibles as Meret Oppenheim’s Traccia ‘chicken legs’ table and Catellanti & Smith’s woven aluminium Fil de Fer pendant light sit alongside Natuzzi velvet Penelope armchairs and a Colosseo floor lamp designed in collaboration with Italian designer Mauro Lipparini. In the otherwise sparse bedroom, a Natuzzi Italia ruffled Piuma bed and Galileo lamps designed with rising Milanese star Michele Menescardi lend a welcoming softness.
Not yet 30 years old, Pasquale Junior has been tasked with transforming Natuzzi from a distinguished global furniture company into a leading lifestyle brand. Famous for its streamlined fine leather sofas, cossetting armchairs (including the best-selling Re-vive recliner), upholstered beds and elegant tables, the collection now also features accessories such as ceramics — including the terracotta-glazed majolica Faces collection made locally — in addition to plant-based silk handknotted rugs, handblown glass vases and sculptures, and velvet and linen cushions.
In the kitchen, Natuzzi Italia Pool glass sculpture; Ichendorf bottle and glasses; artwork by Ali Hassoun.
This ‘contamination’ of contemporary design with the tactility of traditional Puglian textures has helped give Pasquale Junior’s trulli “a new sense of place and point of view,” he says. When not working 16-hour days, he escapes to the coast to go horseriding around Laghetto Cave di Bauxite or to swim at beaches like Cala Masciola near Brindisi. “Here I feel the sense of tranquillity from being in the middle of nature — just olive trees and the area’s colourful Fichi d’India prickly pear cactus around me,” he says. “The house gives me the opportunity to think, sleep and rest. I feel very protected.”
In the bedroom, Natuzzi Italia Piuma bed and Galileo lamps by Michele Menescardi; artworks by Gino Donvito.
Visit: natuzzi.com.au