Mediterranean time off

Il Gattopardo Lampedusa, Italy

Agape Destinations

EN

The island of Lampedusa is the southernmost patch

of land in all of Italy. The small outcropping emerges from

the Mediterranean roughly halfway between Malta and

Tunisia (and in fact, belongs geologically to the African

continent) and its remote position has given this small island

a feeling of being frozen in an era long past. That makes

it the ideal place to totally disconnect. Another of the

island’s striking features is the landscape, which is

composed of arid limestone hills and sparse shrubbery, like

a small desert surrounded by water. But Lampedusa’s real

draw is its stunning coastline, dominated by sandy beaches,

stony cliffs and turquoise waters teeming with marine life.

Peering over Lampedusa’s rocky southern edge

toward the Mediterranean sea of Cala Creta is Gattopardo,

a family-run 10-room boutique hotel. Architects Valentina

Moretti and Tiziana Amato have together co-designed rooms

and common spaces as a cozy and comfortable home.

Amato was responsible for the masonry and bathroom

furnishings, while Moretti, creative director of More studio,

a business unit of Terra Moretti Holding, of which L’Albereta

Relais & Châteaux is also a part, oversaw interior and

exterior design and the selection of all accessories.

“The idea was to create a hotel that respects the

wilderness and history of the island,” say the owners.

Colors, finishes and materials recall the sea, the coastline

and the landscape. For example, Amato had the walls built

in rough limestone using traditional Lampedusan techniques

and the domed roofs that reference Dammuso houses,

typical of the local architectural traditions.

However for the interiors, “Moretti opted to mix

design furniture pieces, custom made, and unique pieces”,

as well as included references to the local culture such

as sailing rope wound around the exterior handrails

and pergolas reminiscent of fishing nets in shades of natural

brass. “The interiors have been finished with essential

design materials and earthy brown colors”, they add. Neutral

tones also for the bathrooms, where Tiziana Amato chose

furnishings in the contrasting colors of black and white. “The

organic lines of the rooms could not fail to recall the design

of the Vieques line with its opaque white finish”, they explain

of their choices, “just as the essentiality of the spaces could

only be respected by the elegant simplicity of the Fez 2 taps

in black or white”.

“Our intention was to respect the authentic nature,

wilderness, as well as the history of the island”.

Valentina Moretti

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Vieques washbasin, Fez 2 tap

Lavabo Vieques, rubinetto Fez 2

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