Villa Costanza, Forte dei Marmi
Together with Michele Vitaloni we worked on the stone surfaces of Villa Costanza, a boutique hotel in the historic centre of Forte dei Marmi, and on a custom texture, Apuane, which reinterprets the profile of the Versilian mountains in a contemporary key. Find out more through the words of the designer.
Can you tell us about the project? What inspired the design?
Villa Costanza was born from the vision of Gianluca and Laura Conti, who entrusted our studio with transforming a property in the heart of Forte dei Marmi into a boutique hotel. From our first meeting we shared one goal: to create not simply a place to stay, but a destination made of emotions, details and identity, able to welcome guests with the elegance and authenticity of this land.
Villa Costanza is a tribute to Versilia and to the dialogue between sea, nature, art and architecture that makes it unique. It stands in the historic centre of Forte dei Marmi, a few steps from the sea, and tells the soul of the place through a contemporary, timeless vision.
Versilia has always been one of my sources of inspiration. On one side the horizon of the sea, on the other the Apuan Alps, where the marble that wrote the history of art and architecture comes from. The concept takes shape where these two elements meet.
In my design language the sea becomes the horizontal line: balance, lightness, freedom. The Apuan Alps become the vertical line: strength, identity, memory. The project rests on the balance between these two geometries, which define the spaces, the proportions and the perceptual experience of the rooms.
The architectural inspiration recalls Italian Rationalism of the 1930s, reread with a contemporary sensibility. Carrara marble, Pietra d’Avola, brass, Canaletto walnut and turquoise tones come together in a refined, welcoming atmosphere, rooted in the territory.
For me luxury is not ostentation but harmony: moving people through light, material and care for detail. Villa Costanza was conceived like a tailored suit, in which every element contributes to an authentic and memorable experience.
What led you to choose these Salvatori products?
When I design, I look for materials with a soul, a story to tell, the ability to move people through their matter. Salvatori has turned natural stone into a contemporary language without losing its authenticity and cultural value.
For Villa Costanza we were looking for surfaces that would dialogue with the architecture and with light, beyond the merely decorative. Salvatori’s textures and finishes become landscapes of matter, recalling the stratifications of stone and the richness of the Apuan territory.
This bond also gave rise to a collaboration that is meaningful to me: I customised a texture for Salvatori called Apuane, a design of asymmetric lines that reinterprets in a contemporary key the profile of the mountains and the natural stratifications of stone.
Apuane comes from my daily observation of the Versilian landscape. It is the synthesis of the vertical strength of the mountains and the compositional freedom of nature: a simple mark that tells of a territory, a memory, a design philosophy.
Seeing this research become a real surface was deeply satisfying. It is the meeting of my vision and the Italian manufacturing craft that Salvatori brings to the world.
Which aspects of Salvatori’s style do you identify with?
I identify with the respect Salvatori shows for natural material. I find its ability to innovate without losing the link with Italian craft tradition fascinating: every product comes from research that looks not for excess, but for essence.
It is close to the way I design: letting light, proportions and materials tell the story of a space. I also appreciate how stone is made contemporary and timeless, with that sense of authenticity that, for me, is today the true form of luxury.
What was it like working with Salvatori?
It was an experience of strong creative and human harmony. I found a skilled, passionate team, able to grasp the vision of the project straight away. When a shared culture of design and quality exists, dialogue comes naturally and the result benefits.
For me it also means something more personal. Over the years a good relationship has grown with Gabriele Salvatori, whom I respect as a person and as a professional. We are both from Versilia: we share a love for our land and a common sensibility towards design, architecture, material and Italian know-how.
Every meeting with Gabriele is an opportunity to exchange ideas. We talk about design, business, the culture of the project and the future of our sector. These conversations enrich me and let me look at our work from different perspectives. I believe that exchanging views with people of value is one of the most important ways to grow.
The quality of a company is measured in its products, but above all in its people. At Salvatori I found professionals who combine innovation, technical expertise and attention to detail, all essential for high-level projects.
I appreciate the rare balance between manufacturing quality, contemporary research and authenticity: a company that brings to the world a refined vision of Italian design without losing its roots. A culture of the project, human qualities and a love for material make it a partner with whom it is always a pleasure to collaborate.
Was the client happy?
Yes. The greatest satisfaction is seeing how guests perceive the spaces even before they understand them rationally. Natural material has a communicative power that Salvatori products helped turn into an atmosphere of discreet, sophisticated elegance.
The client appreciated the aesthetic quality of the surfaces and finishes, but above all the ability of the materials to become part of the identity of the project.
For us at Salvatori there is a strong link between design and music. Would you like to share your 10 favourite songs, the ones that inspire you when you design?
Music has been part of my life forever. I grew up in a family of music lovers: my father always played the piano and the guitar and sang songs that I still carry in my heart. Those melodies accompanied my childhood and shaped my sensibility, including the way I look at the world and design.
Today it is my main source of creative inspiration, a visceral passion. When I design I listen to music constantly: it helps me imagine spaces, build atmospheres, find a balance between emotion and reason. Architecture and music share harmony, rhythm, proportion, tension and emotion. Just as a song leaves a mark with a few notes, a project must move people through light, material and space.
If I were to tell my story through music, I would choose these ten songs:
- Michael Gem Club: “Michael”
- Radiohead: “Exit Music (For a Film)”
- Lucio Battisti: “Emozioni”
- David Bowie: “Life on Mars?”
- Dardust: “Riviera”
- Damien Rice: “The Blower’s Daughter”
- Fabio Concato: “Fiore di Maggio”
- Ennio Morricone: “Gabriel’s Oboe”
- The Rolling Stones: “Angie”
- Coldplay: “Hypnotised”
In the end, music and architecture share the same mission: to leave an emotion that lasts over time. The songs I listened to as a child, sitting next to my father, are still part of my creativity. If Versilia, with its sea and the Apuan Alps, is the landscape that inspires my architecture, music is the landscape that inspires my soul. Many of the emotions I try to bring into my projects come from a melody, a voice or a memory that manages to stop time.
Project: Michele Vitaloni
Photography: Diego Laurino
