Historical Fiction

Inspired by the building vernacular of a Swiss village, Studio Peregalli argues once again that the most forward-looking design both respects — and reimagines — the past.

- Tom Delavan

The Italian word patinare is often invoked at Studio Peregalli, the Milanese interior design and architecture firm co-founded by Laura Sartori Rimini and Roberto Peregalli 27 years ago. The term, which translates to “patinate”, is rarely used as a verb in English, generally because it’s something that’s accomplished by time, not by human interference. Yet the dozens of craftsmen trained and employed at the firm are able to create the illusion of age where none exists: scraping, scratching, staining, waxing or soiling walls, floors, furniture, and fabrics until each element of each room looks like it’s been around for decades, if not centuries, even though it may, in fact, be newly reconfigured. Virtually everything that makes it into one of Studio Peregalli’s spaces that’s not already an antique undergoes this process, creating a singular aesthetic that has attracted admirers such as the late French fashion executive Pierre Bergé (the former partner of Yves Saint Laurent), the husband-and-wife American artists John Currin and Rachel Feinstein and the German publisher and philanthropist Hubert Burda.