A NAPLES PENTHOUSE WHERE ARCHITECTURE, ART AND LIFE CONVERGE
NAPLES, ITALY
On the top floor of a Liberty style building located in the heart of Naples, a penthouse appears to hover between sky and city. Considering spatial fluidity, light and visual continuity, architect Giuliano Andrea dell’Uva has designed a home for an entrepreneurial couple as a vertical urban villa; a place where architecture, art and everyday life exist harmoniously, without hierarchy. Conceived as a hanging garden, the terrace overlooks a landscape where the sea merges with the hills — Capri and Vomero — in a unique blend of eras and colors. A residence that interprets Naples through a cultured, bourgeois lens, designed to foster connection and conviviality.
Here, the boundary between indoors and outdoors dissolves, reflecting the blurring of the line between pragmatism and inspiration. Black enamelled surfaces define the kitchen area, while the adjoining living room opens up to white walls that invite light and facilitate a flowing dialogue between art and furniture. Works by Marina Abramović, Tobias Zielony and Vanessa Beecroft intertwine and move through the space with a life-like presence. Functions blend and artworks connect, creating an atmosphere that is fluid, refined and deeply personal.
“This house was born from the desire to bring together aesthetics, art and daily life in a single domestic scenography.”
At the heart of the home, the kitchen is a theatrical, central space. The Arclinea Italia model, with island, features in stainless steel with a vintage steel worktop; a compact, necessary volume with domesticity at its core. The countertop becomes a convivial space — a meeting point for the everyday — where the couple’s children and friends naturally gather. A low steel paneling subtly defines the back area, introducing a refined horizontal line, seamlessly hosting the Porcino lamp by Caccia Dominioni.
“Architecture doesn’t dictate here, it accompanies. It acts as a silent backdrop for art, light and people to emerge.”
The project explores an original relationship between architecture, landscape and daily life, telling a story of a home lived without convention. The terrace — with its modest pool and sea-facing lounge — becomes a natural extension of the interior, usable almost all year round. Here, above Naples, a new dimension of togetherness unfolds, where every detail reflects a precise vision of contemporary living: intimate yet open, functional yet poetic, aesthetic yet profoundly human.
“To design in Naples means transforming the landscape into an everyday experience of beauty.”
