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Roomscapes: The Decorative Architecture of Renzo Mongiardino
On the international design scene, Milan-based architect Renzo Mongiardino is renowned as the consummate creator of spectacular, atmospheric spaces. His dramatic, theatrical approach to design has produced elegant period interiors that have influenced many other designers.
This handsome monograph, the first complete presentation of Mongiardino's work, explores his philosophy of space, design, and life itself. Extraordinary color photographs illustrate the brilliant arrangements of objects, art, and antiques and the rich array of textiles and painted effects-- faux wood, marble, and other materials, extravagant full-scale trompe l'oeils-- that epitomize his style. Mongiardino draws from sources that range from ancient Greek, Roman, and Etruscan artifacts to the work of the Renaissance and baroque masters Michelangelo, Palladio, Bernini, and Borromini and to antique fabrics, carpets, and objets ; he also adds poetic recollections of important personal and historical spaces and incorporates his view of nature as a collaborator in the design process. Equally important is his ability to reflect the personality and lifestyle of his distinguished clients, whether in New York, London, Milan, Rome, or Paris. The resulting interior landscapes transform rooms into evocative surroundings of startling beauty.
Practical considerations of design are discussed in Mongiardino's own words. He shares his insights into particular spaces-- small or large, study or grand gallery-- and traces the solutions he originated to create them. Through early sketches, impressionistic drawings and watercolors, and detailed photographs, he unfolds the story of each space, highlighting both its particular challenges and the lessons to be learned from its ultimate success as a stunning environment for living.
This handsome monograph, the first complete presentation of Mongiardino's work, explores his philosophy of space, design, and life itself. Extraordinary color photographs illustrate the brilliant arrangements of objects, art, and antiques and the rich array of textiles and painted effects-- faux wood, marble, and other materials, extravagant full-scale trompe l'oeils-- that epitomize his style. Mongiardino draws from sources that range from ancient Greek, Roman, and Etruscan artifacts to the work of the Renaissance and baroque masters Michelangelo, Palladio, Bernini, and Borromini and to antique fabrics, carpets, and objets ; he also adds poetic recollections of important personal and historical spaces and incorporates his view of nature as a collaborator in the design process. Equally important is his ability to reflect the personality and lifestyle of his distinguished clients, whether in New York, London, Milan, Rome, or Paris. The resulting interior landscapes transform rooms into evocative surroundings of startling beauty.
Practical considerations of design are discussed in Mongiardino's own words. He shares his insights into particular spaces-- small or large, study or grand gallery-- and traces the solutions he originated to create them. Through early sketches, impressionistic drawings and watercolors, and detailed photographs, he unfolds the story of each space, highlighting both its particular challenges and the lessons to be learned from its ultimate success as a stunning environment for living.
- GenresArt
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
15 people want to read
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December 23, 2025
An absolutely-must-read work by one of the truly great decorators of the twentieth century - the rare interior designer who invites comparison to Robert Adam in the totality of his vision and in the immediate recognisability of his work despite his constant reference to classical sources. (It's no wonder that Mongiardino preferred "architect" as his job title, even though not a single building exterior of his design appears in this book.) Mongiardino is a style all to himself.
While beautiful to look at, there is a risk here of being not especially helpful to read: like with the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, one is simply bowled over by the magnitude of Mongiardino's genius and the originality of his ideas, and there is little hope of being able to imitate his solutions except by crude, rote copying. However, that is only the initial impression. Mongiardino takes great pains to shepherd the reader not only through his philosophy, but through his ideation and design process and the importance of his collaborators (named, happily, unlike those of the more self-aggrandising Wright).
The contents of the book are very sensibly arranged to elucidate how design solutions flow from specific design problems, such as the size, shape, and function of a room. The designs themselves thus seem more grounded and understandable, no matter how much the results continue to hover just beyond mortal grasp. This is one of the better approaches I have seen to organizing a book that deals only with individual rooms rather than with projects in their totality, and ought to be imitated.
A theme that emerges from Mongiardino's design process is that of going from small to large. His technique of using hand-painted scale models is not one I have seen before, but I am eager to imitate it and see what sort of results it pushes one toward, as opposed to perspective sketching or CAD. The small-to-large gesture, already implicit in the scale modeling, is made explicit in the chapter in which Mongiardino shows how he transforms some diminutive objet d'art such as a mantel clock or a fan into a total scheme for a room. Understanding this, it's no wonder why Mongiardino's rooms all have the "jewel box" effect, regardless of their size: they all seem, in some way, to have started out as jewel boxes.
p. 129: All this is apparent when carefully executed works are compared to industrial products, even those in rare wood and marble. The material becomes vulgar because it has not been part of the creative process. In nature everything has its beauty, but once a material comes into man's hands, only care and tending can restore it to life. Looking at a carefully considered use of marble, a knowledgeable juxtaposition of different woods, it is clear why the various marbles aligned in government buildings—mechanically executed slices of material—not only fail to acquire new life, but do not even maintain their innate qualities.
The creative process requires vigilance to link the idea and the object effectively. It is not only the machine that is "guilty" of serial production; hand-crafted work, executed without involvement, without the subtle thread of the guiding idea, leads to repetitive, imprecise, and unexpectedly mechanical results. Intelligent use of materials stems from a love of those materials and also from a knowledge of ways in which to exploit them most effectively, with the understanding that, when the appropriate material is not available, it may be simulated.
p. 206: The goal, the miracle of beauty in art, lies in the rules, but goes beyond the rules. It holds its own mystery, contained within itself. The belief that beauty is objective (absolute) and not subjective (relative) is the only way one can believe in beauty at all. Thus if I hope to have clarified certain obscure points, to have dissipated certain false moralisms, always built upon false rules, I still do not believe I can provide the key for opening the doors of beauty. If art did not convey this miracle on its own, it would not exist, in its great examples, or in its lesser, smaller, precious, everyday results.
While beautiful to look at, there is a risk here of being not especially helpful to read: like with the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, one is simply bowled over by the magnitude of Mongiardino's genius and the originality of his ideas, and there is little hope of being able to imitate his solutions except by crude, rote copying. However, that is only the initial impression. Mongiardino takes great pains to shepherd the reader not only through his philosophy, but through his ideation and design process and the importance of his collaborators (named, happily, unlike those of the more self-aggrandising Wright).
The contents of the book are very sensibly arranged to elucidate how design solutions flow from specific design problems, such as the size, shape, and function of a room. The designs themselves thus seem more grounded and understandable, no matter how much the results continue to hover just beyond mortal grasp. This is one of the better approaches I have seen to organizing a book that deals only with individual rooms rather than with projects in their totality, and ought to be imitated.
A theme that emerges from Mongiardino's design process is that of going from small to large. His technique of using hand-painted scale models is not one I have seen before, but I am eager to imitate it and see what sort of results it pushes one toward, as opposed to perspective sketching or CAD. The small-to-large gesture, already implicit in the scale modeling, is made explicit in the chapter in which Mongiardino shows how he transforms some diminutive objet d'art such as a mantel clock or a fan into a total scheme for a room. Understanding this, it's no wonder why Mongiardino's rooms all have the "jewel box" effect, regardless of their size: they all seem, in some way, to have started out as jewel boxes.
p. 129: All this is apparent when carefully executed works are compared to industrial products, even those in rare wood and marble. The material becomes vulgar because it has not been part of the creative process. In nature everything has its beauty, but once a material comes into man's hands, only care and tending can restore it to life. Looking at a carefully considered use of marble, a knowledgeable juxtaposition of different woods, it is clear why the various marbles aligned in government buildings—mechanically executed slices of material—not only fail to acquire new life, but do not even maintain their innate qualities.
The creative process requires vigilance to link the idea and the object effectively. It is not only the machine that is "guilty" of serial production; hand-crafted work, executed without involvement, without the subtle thread of the guiding idea, leads to repetitive, imprecise, and unexpectedly mechanical results. Intelligent use of materials stems from a love of those materials and also from a knowledge of ways in which to exploit them most effectively, with the understanding that, when the appropriate material is not available, it may be simulated.
p. 206: The goal, the miracle of beauty in art, lies in the rules, but goes beyond the rules. It holds its own mystery, contained within itself. The belief that beauty is objective (absolute) and not subjective (relative) is the only way one can believe in beauty at all. Thus if I hope to have clarified certain obscure points, to have dissipated certain false moralisms, always built upon false rules, I still do not believe I can provide the key for opening the doors of beauty. If art did not convey this miracle on its own, it would not exist, in its great examples, or in its lesser, smaller, precious, everyday results.
Displaying 1 of 1 review