CaffèFernanda位于米兰城市最重要的画廊Pinacoteca di Brera的入口大厅内,是世界上主要的意大利画作集之一,CaffèFernanda欢迎博物馆的客人进入一个改造的空间,体现了该机构的古老遗产和驱动力。这个咖啡馆的名字来源于Pinacoteca富有远见的前任导演Fernanda Wittgens,他在第二次世界大战期间部分毁坏后重新开放了画廊,该咖啡馆是一个为期3年的大型项目的一部分,该项目需要重新设计画廊及其艺术收藏品,由米兰的建筑实践rgastudio设计,以美观和完整的方式回应 – 经过翻新的画廊客房。

Located in the former entrance hall of Milan’s Pinacoteca di Brera, the city’s foremost picture gallery, home to one of the leading collections of Italian paintings in the world, Caffè Fernandawelcomes the museum’s guests in a revamped space that embodies the institution’s venerable legacy and drive for renewal. Taking its name from the Pinacoteca’s visionary former director, Fernanda Wittgens, who managed to re-open the gallery following its partial destruction during World War II, the café is part of a larger, 3-year project entailing the redesign of the gallery and its art collection, designed by Milanese architecture practice rgastudio to echo – both aesthetically and in terms of curation – the renovated gallery rooms.

咖啡馆的室内设计基于新古典主义建筑的宏伟,战后翻新的20世纪50年代审美与艺术策展的现代方法之间的良好平衡,由博物馆现任导演James Bradburne带头,他的使命是提高访客的参与度而不是访客数量。事实上,这个空间设计得更像是一个画廊而不是传统的咖啡馆,有几件艺术品占据了中心位置。
皮耶特罗•达米尼(Pietro Damini)17世纪的广阔画作“ 圣伯纳德改造公爵水族馆 ”(St. Bernard Converting the Duto of Aquitania)庄严地悬挂在酒吧上方,而贝特尔•托瓦尔森(Bertel Thorvaldsen)的4米高的画家安德烈亚•阿皮亚尼(Andrea Appiani)则描绘了丘比特和三世的画面。格雷斯占据了空间的另一面,它的白色大理石诱人地突出了墙壁的深蓝色。规模较小,但由于Marino Marini和她的Attilio Rossi的肖像,Fernanda Wittgens的半身像是诱人的。

The café’s interior design is based on a fine balance between the grandeur of the neoclassical architecture, the 1950s aesthetic of the post-war renovation, and a contemporary approach to art curation, spearheaded by the museum’s current modernizing director, James Bradburne, whose mission is to boost visitors’ engagement rather than visitor numbers. In fact, the space has been designed more as a gallery and less than a conventional café, with several artworks taking centre stage.
Pietro Damini’s expansive 17th century painting of ‘St. Bernard Converting the Duke of Aquitania’ majestically hangs above the bar, while Bertel Thorvaldsen’s 4-metre high monument to the painter Andrea Appiani, which depicts in relief the Cupid and the Three Graces, dominates the other side of the space, its white marble seductively standing out against the deep petrol blue of the walls. Smaller in size but as enticing is the bust of Fernanda Wittgens by Marino Marini along with her portrait by Attilio Rossi.

除了与展出的艺术品完美搭配外,墙壁的浓郁蓝色也被选为与画廊客房温暖色调以及桃花大理石地板和Lepanto红色大理石门框的和谐对比。 Portaluppi战后设计的突出特点完好无损。它还为古董黄铜和canaletto胡桃木吧台提供了一个很好的背景,其设计唤起了20世纪50年代的罗纹木制家具。柜台的极薄的黄铜顶部被细长的搁架对着一面大镜子捡起,这个镜子在发光的瓶子中唤起了房间另一侧的艺术品。
咖啡厅优雅的桌子上还配有黄铜和胡桃木,现代风格的扶手椅将黄铜与柔和的粉红色内饰相结合,突出了大理石表面的颜色。粉红色的扶手椅是欣赏Marini’s Fernanda Wittgens半身像的理想场所,而酒吧的桌子则可以看到Rossi的肖像和Francesco Hayez着名的Kiss,它位于Pinacoteca的最后一个房间,进一步巩固咖啡馆被设计为博物馆本身不可或缺的一部分。

Besides perfectly complimenting the artworks on display, the rich blue colour of the walls has been selected as a harmonious counterpart to the warm hues of the gallery rooms, as well as the peach-blossom marble floors and the Lepanto-red marble door frames, both prominent features of Portaluppi’s postwar design that have been left intact. It also makes for a great backdrop for the antique-brass and canaletto walnut bar counter whose design evokes the ribbed wooden furniture from the 1950s. The counter’s extremely thin brass top is picked up by the slender shelving set against a large mirror that evocatively reflects the artworks on the opposite side of the room amid the glowing bottles.
Brass and walnut are also featured in the café’s elegant tables while the modernist armchairs combine brass with soft pink upholstery that accentuates the colours of the marble surfaces. The pink armchairs are the perfect spot to sit to admire Marini’s bust of Fernanda Wittgens while the tables by the bar offer good views of both Rossi’s portrait and Francesco Hayez’s famous Kiss, which is located in the final room of the Pinacoteca, further solidifying the fact that the café has been designed as an integral part of the museum itself.

Project Name: CAFFÈ FERNANDA
Completed:2018
Location: MILAN,ITALY
Design: RGA studio
Photography: Michele Nastasi