Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Mongiardino's Turkish Fantasy




Those of you who have read my blog for a while know that I have a real thing for tented rooms. I think it is the combination of coziness, exoticism, and luxuriousness that appeals to me. I came across this photo of a room designed by Renzo Mongiardino, and of course at it was a tented room, I was taken.

While working on a client's home, Mongiardino was faced with a room defined by its very high ceiling. The client was prepared to lower the ceiling to a more comfortable height. Mongiardino, however, saw this as an opportunity to create a room that was inspired by a Turkish tent that he had once seen in a Swedish museum. Not only did the tent transform "the extraordinary dimension into a correct dimension" (Mongiardino's words), but it lent the room a rather Orientalist flavor. Quite a successful, and glorious, room!

(For related posts on tented rooms, click here.)


A charming sketch of the tented room.

22 comments:

  1. Wonderful roof or ceiling ...What an inspiration

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  2. Mélanie- I agree- very inspiring!

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  3. Love it. What a wonderful sketch you found too. It's so intricate.

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  4. Simply beautiful. What a feat it must have been to hang that tent. I think it is interesting that Mongiardino was inspired by a Turkish tent in a Swedish museum - of all places.

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  5. He was a magical decorator and one of my all time favourites.

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  6. Jennifer you always have the best post! I love this room and the sketch is great!!

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  7. Crazy Mrs. Blandings likes the sketch better than the actual room. This must have been quite something to pull off - in the engineering and convincing the client!

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  8. Anonymous3:09 PM

    I'm even more taken with the rendering. Where did you find it?

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  9. Wow! This is the tented room to beat.

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  10. Anonymous4:51 PM

    The rendering comes from Mongiardino's book "Roomscapes: The Decorative Architecture of Renzo Mongiardino" by Renzo Mongiardino and Fiorenzo Cattaneo. That bit of information aside, what is beautiful is the Turkish-style sofa, just a stacked base and loose cushions. So sexy and loungable.

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  11. I love both the room and the rendering- don't know which one I like best. And yes, it came from "Roomscapes".

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  12. Anonymous8:56 PM

    i love this. reckon it gets dusty? :)

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  13. Chintz- Good point. That's one downside of using swags and sweeps of fabric- how do you clean it???

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  14. I just love that sketch! I haven't quite seen a tented room like that of Mongiardino, and I love it! Thanks for sharing Jennifer.

    ~Kate

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  15. It's amazing, and absolutely perfect for such a grand room. Hanging must have been quite a feat...and yes, how on earth do you clean it?

    I have a picture in an Australian magazine at home with a tented dining room, if I can find it I'll email it to you.

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  16. Anonymous3:52 PM

    It's the ceiling; how dirty can it get?

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  17. color choice, design and settlement of the the sofas is so beautiful that will make a peaceful ambiance as reflection of Turkish style.

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  18. uha1, very well said, and I totally agree.

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  19. Anon- Wouldn't it get dusty???

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  20. Anonymous9:51 PM

    HI I2M FROM TURKEY ISTANBUL.You are so sweet thanks for this posts. Please vist me :) Regards and hugs. www.edasuner.com

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  21. Anonymous5:33 PM

    Him was a fantastic artisan and architect....
    http://ferdinandoiosa.blogspot.com

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  22. Anonymous5:59 PM

    when i've finish the school of decoration in bruxelles i've call
    Renzo Mongiardino in Milano,
    him was very kind and spooken whit me for one hour to the telephone,
    i've the great regrets because
    i never meet him . but i' have a fantastic souvenir about.
    Great artisan and architect..

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