Mollino’s early designs on Domus: a house by the sea and one in the hills

Along a career that lasted from the 1930s until August 27, 1973 – the day of his death shortly arrived after the inauguration of his last work, the Teatro Regio in Turin – Carlo Mollino built his figure as a designer on an alternative position to modern or pure historicism: aestheticization of references, decoration, a quintessentially Turinese eclecticism, maximum expressiveness in interiors, such as that of his personal home, destined to become an aesthetic fetish of recent years.

But also an immediate relationship with nature as both implicit and explicit interlocutor for his projects, as inspiration for shapes and materials. We see this in so many of his interiors, and his later celebrated furnishings: it is there that Gio Ponti’s attention would soon focus, giving space from the very beginning to Mollino’s peculiar position, even in critical contributions, such as Carlo Levi’s on Casa Miller. Houses are also featured on Domus, however, and the nature they refer to is initially seaside or hillside, preceding the mountain environment that would then mark the architect’s later career with its presence. Mollino’s first project on Domus appears in November 1936, issue 107: it is a house, a seaside residence in Forte dei Marmi; then in February 1943, issue 182, comes a concept, developed for Domus itself, for living on the hillside contemplating Turin, already showcasing all the characteristic elements of Mollino’s design.