Chez Tommaso Spinzi, mélange des genres à la milanaise
Creative studio or loft that looks like a futurist bachelor pad? In this surprising space in the heart of Milan, we meet Tommaso Spinzi, designer and founder of Spinzi, a creative atelier specialised in decoration and artistic direction. As it happened to these creative professions, for which the boundaries between disciplines have been long overthrown, Tommaso Spinzi’s apartment mixes genres. In this space with high volumes and partitions – also – knocked down, the classics of Italian design sit alongside pieces by Spinzi and a Porsche 911 parked in the living room, “like a sculpture”, many objects, books and vinyls everywhere, carefully chosen by the owner. A few weeks before the Salone del Mobile in Milan, The Socialite Family slipped into this radical but welcoming interior, very personal, yet completely Italian.
Tommaso, can you introduce yourself?
I’m Tommaso Spinzi and I’m a designer and artist based in Milano, Italy. During my career I’ve lived and worked between Europe, Australia and the US, and have returned to Italy not too long ago, in 2019 to set the base of Spinzi in Milano.
Tell us about your childhood. What environment did you grow up in and how did it influence your idea of beauty?
I was born in a little town on the shores of Lake Como, so I consider myself extremely lucky: since I was a little child, I have seen, felt and touched the atmosphere of possibly one of the most magical place in Italy. A place where natural beauty and man-made wonders meet to create really a unique universe. This has taught me the value of “Made in Italy”, which sometimes might sound a bit like a cliché, but is actually a way of living that brings together beauty, elegance, tradition and authenticity in an effortless way.
Then, of course, traveling and living abroad has added fundamental pieces in my personal and professional formation, because every influence I received – be it cultural, or just in terms of design – has left a mark on me.
How would you define your design signature?
I think what drives me is first and foremost curiosity. I like to be curious, to explore and discover new stuff of almost any kind and from any era, and find my inspiration there. It might be a shape that strikes my imagination, or a certain material, but also just a concept or a sentence someone elaborated a long time ago. That’s why I like to contaminate vintage and contemporary in my interior projects: because I believe that past, present and future are an open dialogue and work better when they come together.
I also like to be “fluid” in my creative process, not limiting myself to a certain area, but rather exploring the boundaries of product, furniture, automotive , fashion , art…
We are here in your eponymous studio, which is also your home. Tell us about your encounter with this duplex with its atypical volumes.
Our Milano base has served many purposes before I moved in in 2018, but it never had anything to do with design – or cars, for that matters. The encounter actually happened at a 16000km distance: I was still living in Australia when I first saw pictures of the place, which was listed online . I felt something, and probably it was in that very moment that I decided it was time for me to go back home and start this new adventure.
It was as if I could already see the raw, industrial space evolve, becoming a curated gallery home but also preserving its flaws and imperfections, and narrating its rich and complex history. Since I moved in, I found many different ideas here: the way the light comes in, and how the space changes throughout the day, is a really powerful source of inspiration.
Industrial loft, creative laboratory, art gallery: how did you design and decorate this hybrid space?
The first goal was to elevate the environment, and make it more refined, while at the same time preserving its heritage. I wanted to feel the matericity of the walls and the floor, and I wanted materials – even the roughest ones – to be in plain sight. I ended up keeping the walls, windows and mezzanine almost as they were, and I replaced the floor with a micro-cement by a local brand named Innovative Surface.
Then, it’s all about furniture, and shifting it from time to time according to a specific mood or inspiration. I always try to keep a balance and an open dialogue between pieces we design at Spinzi and a selection of vintage furniture and objects. It’s not easy to pinpoint a single movement I like more than others: I might answer the Space Age, or Italian Mid-Century, but in reality it’s more about the single pieces than an entire style. If I fall in love with an object, and I feel like it has a place in the studio, I just add it to the collection – no matter if it’s a chromed lamp from the Seventies or a marble table from the Twenties.
What does it say about you?
I like to intend the studio as an immersive space, where all things set a coherent mood and evoke a lifestyle that I share with like-minded people. We have Spinzi playlists on Spotify with a very eclectic mix of music that we listen to, we move the car around as if it were a sculpture, have a complete living area but also our work space with lots of material samples, sketches and prototypes around. It really is a creative hub, where we can introduce friends, clients and brands to the Spinzi lifestyle.
Which piece of our collection would you like to live in?
I like the Libera chair. It has a timeless design that would look at home in a modernist villa from the Thirties but also in a futuristic apartment, and its name means “free” in Italy: I like this concept of freedom.
For you, The Socialite Family is ?
It’s a name that evokes a way of living, enjoy and foster: at Spinzi we love to create connections and stimulate creativity through contamination of ideas, thoughts and visions; and we also aim at creating an ever growing team of people that feel like a family, a family you can trust and with whom you can always feel at home.
Do you have any Milanese addresses to recommend for a weekend or a holiday in the capital of Italian design?
Milan is a city that lives on trends: I prefer to steer clear of them if possible, and instead go to more authentic, off-the-grid locations. If I want to grab a drink I go to Deus, in the Isola neighborhood, a Mecca for any motor enthusiast; for dinner, the Osteria del Biliardo in Affori is an incredible time capsule that brings you back to a Milano of six decades ago, and if I’m in the mood for a night out I choose Spirit the Milan, a restaurant/club set in an old glass fabric in the Bovisa area. The building is a true gem, and look like it came straight out of a purist artist sketch.
