Circle Lines

A former garage is on an upward curve in Milan’s Porta Volta

Porta Volta is where contemporary Milan seems to come together. The dramatic new architecture of Herzog & de Meuron’s glass temple for Fondazione Feltrinelli sits beside the ornate 1880 Porta Volta toll gates and dominates Chinatown’s pedestrianised main drag, while a long-established Chinese population now interweaves with a trendy new youth contingent. The area is fast becoming one of Milan’s most dynamic – a perfect location, then, for a luxury goods entrepreneur to make his base.

A converted auto-repair garage, this loft faces another, still active, auto-repair shop across the courtyard. The soaring 19thcentury volume, which retains its original exposed brick, with archways inside and out, has been turned into an intimate home by local architect Tommaso Fantoni.