The Enchantment of Villa Medici

Perched on the Pincio Hill with Rome spread below, Villa Medici has always been a place where artistic ambition finds its most fertile ground. Since 1803, the Renaissance palace has housed the French Academy — and today, under an ongoing revitalization program, it continues to evolve, inviting contemporary design into dialogue with centuries of accumulated beauty. The latest chapter focuses on the guest rooms: six spaces reimagined through a rare collaboration between designers and Italian artisans, where the hand of the maker is as present as the eye of the creator.

Among these rooms, one stands apart. Conceived around the sensory experience of walking through Rome — its travertine pavements, its maritime pines, the particular blue of its skies — the space draws entirely from the city's material vocabulary. At its heart, a sweeping green wall clad in fire-enameled copper tiles evokes the canopy of the Villa's gardens. The bathroom takes its cues from Rome's monumental fountains; the kitchen reinterprets ancient opus incertum paving, complete with balustrades referencing the city's characteristic perforated brick screens. It is an interior that reads as a love letter to a place, written in texture and surface rather than words.

The craft behind this vision belongs to Incalmi, a Venetian atelier with deep expertise in fire-enameling on copper — a technique of great historical prestige, particularly in France, that risks falling into obscurity. For this project, Incalmi produced 616 hand-enameled copper tiles, each fired individually and calibrated to the precise colors and finishes required by the design. The installation itself presented an extraordinary technical challenge: a concave wall four and a half meters high, incorporating iron and wood steps and anchored balustrades. Beyond the tiles, Incalmi extended its contribution across the entire room — designing and producing custom lighting, hardware, and tabletops, weaving its craftsmanship into every surface and fixture.

The craft behind this vision belongs to Incalmi, a Venetian atelier with deep expertise in fire-enameling on copper — a technique of great historical prestige, particularly in France, that risks falling into obscurity. For this project, Incalmi produced 616 hand-enameled copper tiles, each fired individually and calibrated to the precise colors and finishes required by the design. The installation itself presented an extraordinary technical challenge: a concave wall four and a half meters high, incorporating iron and wood steps and anchored balustrades. Beyond the tiles, Incalmi extended its contribution across the entire room — designing and producing custom lighting, hardware, and tabletops, weaving its craftsmanship into every surface and fixture.