{"id":3015,"date":"2024-11-12T06:29:19","date_gmt":"2024-11-11T22:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/2024\/11\/12\/the-comfort-of-things-artist-oscar-piccolos-modern-bohemian-studio-apartment\/"},"modified":"2024-11-12T06:29:19","modified_gmt":"2024-11-11T22:29:19","slug":"the-comfort-of-things-artist-oscar-piccolos-modern-bohemian-studio-apartment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/it\/the-comfort-of-things-artist-oscar-piccolos-modern-bohemian-studio-apartment\/","title":{"rendered":"Il comfort delle cose: Il moderno monolocale boh\u00e9mien dell'artista Oscar Piccolo"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never been by myself so much, but I\u2019m treating this period as a good pause,\u201d London designer Oscar Piccolo tells us. \u201cI\u2019ve always felt connected to domestic spaces so I am finding this aspect interesting. My home is my studio, really the two go hand in hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

A 2018 fine arts graduate of London\u2019s Chelsea College of Arts, Piccolo emerged as a multi-media talent to watch thanks to his Lampada Cappello, a serpentine lamp with a playful hat-inspired shade that he sells on his website\u2014and keeps selling out. While social distancing, he\u2019s at work on a new version, La Coppia\u2014\u201dmeaning \u2018the couple,\u2019 in Italian; it\u2019s two Lampada Cappello lamps made to be used together and is dedicated to family, friends, and all of those who have found each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

We ourselves found Piccolo via The Modern House, which spotlighted his stylishly patched-together studio apartment, a rental in South East, London, filled with prototypes, works in progress, and a lot of uplifting curving lines. Piccolo, who grew up in a peripatetic Italian family (and has recently himself moved to a new flat), says he learned from his artist\/interior designer mother that \u201cthe idea of home is less about a physical place and more about the objects we live with that carry significance and meaning.\u201d He recently gave us a guided tour via Facetime.<\/p>\n

Fotografia per gentile concessione di The Modern House.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n


Above: \u201cThe beauty of this apartment is that it was an empty white canvas,\u201d says Piccolo.\u201dThe challenge was figuring out how to distinguish areas: if the bed is always looking at you [that\u2019s it just visible opposite the sofa], you have to set some boundaries.\u201d He was able to keep the space feeling open and airy thanks to an overall pale palette offset by sculptural wooden elements. The blue structure in the corner is a bookshelf turned plant house that he built himself when he first arrived in London six years ago. <\/p>\n

,

Above:  The one-room apartment is in an 18th-century building\u2014located in an area called Shooter\u2019s Hill, it was originally a military academy\u2014with tall ceilings, stained glass clerestory windows, and interior shutters. The carved pine 1940\u2019s French chair \u2014\u201dits reminds me of the Flintstones\u201d\u2014is a favorite of Piccolo\u2019s on long-term loan from Beau-Traps, his friend Maxime Fisher\u2019s online antiques business. <\/p>\n

In addition to making art and lamps, Piccolo designs interiors and sets with Charlotte Taylor, a friend from art school\u2014their business is called Dello Studio (website and furniture collection to come soon: stay tuned @dellostudio). The curved floor shelf is a leftover prop from one of their sets: \u201cit started as a storage problem, but ended up working well here.\u201d<\/p>\n


Above: Try this at home: Oscar draped his generic sofa in a large fringed drape that his mother gave him. (For more tactics like this, see 11 Zero-Cost Room-Changing Ideas.),<\/p>\n

Piccolo was born in Sicily and, thanks to his father\u2019s job at an international aviation company, spent his childhood living in Ghana, Istanbul, Cairo, and Libya, with summers in Sicily. \u201cWhen we moved to Ghana, we had a big, beautiful house with nothing in it but mattresses. My mum being the creative one started to draw furniture, which she then had made\u2014so I grew up with the idea that you could make things from scratch rather than just buy them,\u201d he told The Modern House. \u201cMy parents created stability for us by always having the same dining table, sofa, bedroom and objects everywhere we went.\u201d<\/p>\n


Above: A flea market side table holds Piccolo\u2019s miniature vase collection: \u201cthey\u2019re all gifts from friends\u2014they know I\u2019m obsessed with vases.\u201d The cardboard forms are maquettes for design projects.
\n

Above: The apartment came with a streamlined kitchen: the fridge is under the globe, a cupboard and bath are located to the left, and that\u2019s the closet behind the double doors. The round table is a prototype for a forthcoming Dello Studio piece and the \u201cBuffalo Mozzarella Chair\u201d is by his friend Elliott J. Barnes. <\/p>\n

\u201cMaking coffee is one of the things I like doing most,\u201d says Piccolo. \u201cI might even like making it more than drinking it.\u201d After breakfast, the kitchen becomes his work space.<\/p>\n

,

Above: Piccolo describes his work as \u201can ongoing material research through sculpture, photography, furniture, lamps, and digital still-life compositions.\u201d Shown here, a Cubist bust on a plinth that he made from bendable plywood.
\n

Above: Piccolo\u2019s signature Lampada Cappello is but one of the sinuous lines in his bedroom corner. The pleated canvas shades are made just outside of London and the bases are fabricated by hand in Sicily. Until recently, assemblage, packing, and shipping took place in his apartment; Piccolo\u2019s family in Sicily is now assisting with that. <\/p>\n

Note the bedding in shades of brown: \u201cIf I had to pick a favorite color,\u201d Piccolo says, \u201cit would be beige. It\u2019s so peaceful.\u201d<\/p>\n


Above: The cut-out panel and serpentine column are more leftover props made of painted MDF. \u201cThey\u2019re really big pieces but instead of making the space feel crowded, they actually add dimension,\u201d says Piccolo. \u201cThey were designed as elements of a house and meant to be temporary, but ended up coming full circle as parts of my home.\u201d <\/p>\n

Here are three more artist visits, design tips included:<\/p>\n