You are Domitilla Lepri a woman of the world, a globetrotting architect. In the true sense of the term: he studied in an international context, the French high school in Rome, Lycée Chateaubriand, and graduated from the Faculty of Architecture of the University of La Sapienza. She lives in Paris (and is in love with the “Haussmann style”). She and she eventually followed her husband to Beijing, China, in 2005. In 2006, she founded DLArchitecture in Shanghai, a design studio specialized in residential projects, restaurants, offices and shops.
After a life in China, where do you currently live and work?
I currently live in Rome, but work in Italy, China and Japan. I lived twelve years in China, a year in Beijing and then in Shanghai. In 2015 I returned with my family to Rome, my hometown, going back and forth regularly to China, where I had a house. Unfortunately, the covid It forced me to interrupt my trips, so the projects are managed remotely by the Rome office team, which coordinates with the Shanghai one, also from DLArchitecture.
How did you find this house?
When I came back from Shanghai, I had various needs to cover to make up for what I had missed in China. I wanted a house with charm, with character, that was in the center of Rome, close to where I grew up, that was also close to shops, markets, restaurants… In Shanghai we lived in a nice house in a very residential area, but the nearest supermarket was a 20 minute walk away! I was looking for a ventilated residence with high ceilings and enough space for my three daughters. I knew in my heart that I needed the classical, renaissance and baroque Rome that he had missed so much in recent years. The house overlooks a beautiful garden, which is very rare in the center, and this allows me to have a view of the vegetation throughout the year. From my bed, I can see the facade of the church of San Carlo ai Catinari, it seems that I can touch it.
How did you decide on the style?
At first the house was a bit run down, but the structure, doors, windows and coffered ceilings were exactly what I was looking for. The style is what I try to recreate in my projects: a mixture of classic, preferably in the structure of the house, and contemporary, ideally, in the furniture.
Is there a common thread that is like your “signature” in the houses and projects you work on?
I have more than one Red string: the mixture of styles that I propose in the houses, contemporary pieces, classic furniture, some ethnic elements, especially from Southeast Asia, and Chinese decorations, even from the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Art deco furniture (there are many in Shanghai because the city experienced a very prosperous period in the 1930s), colorful carpets and many paintings related to various periods of my life.
What do you think is essential in interior design today?
I think the direction to take is that of create comfortable and welcoming homes, in which there are many opportunities to get together as a family: common spaces where you can eat, talk, watch movies or television series. For children, we need areas where they can carry out creative activities, large tables where they can sew, paint, play… And, furthermore, as we have done in Shanghai for years, there is the challenge of technology: it must be developed to limit consumption, increase environmental comfort and the practicality of our homes.
How important is color to you?
For me color is like salt, you have to dose it. My “rooms” always have pops of color. My favorite colors are blue and green, but I also love ochre, brick and red. I always like to create a balance Between the colored walls and the neutral furniture and vice versa.
And what importance do you give to sustainability in terms of the choice of furniture and technology?
I attach great importance to sustainability, I have worked in a country where pollution is a serious problem, and where all materials have to be carefully checked. Homes should be designed to limit consumption, especially in a climatic evolution that advances towards excess heat and sometimes cold. Home automation helps us, and also the latest generation materials.
How did you gather the furniture for this house?
I left Italy in 2004 with just a bed, a console, a couple of lamps and little else. The rest were custom-made or purchased in Beijing and Shanghai. In Beijing, there is a large antiques market where we spend our first weekends in Asia: a sea of furniture, objects, paintings, but also clothes, photos, old, new, fake and original things. I remember being very cold because everything was always in the shade, but for my husband and me, it was a really fascinating place! Secondly, Shanghai is full of small antique shops with Chinese/art deco furniture that we buy and have restored or reupholstered. The rest I did with my local upholsterers, and some design pieces, like the lamps by Flos and Artemide or the chairs by Kartell, I got from our furniture suppliers.
Article originally published in AD Italy.
Translation and adaptation of Fernanda Toral.