Casa Wunderkammer is the interior design project by 23Bassi for the Milan apartment of Cristina Fogazzi, an entrepreneur, founder of VeraLab, and known to the general public as the “Cynical Esthetician.” This is not a home built to follow a trend, but a personal and welcoming space, designed to accommodate daily life, work, gatherings, and moments of togetherness.
The project takes shape in a historic building in Milan and stems from a deliberate choice: not to erase the apartment’s original character, but to make it the backdrop for a new story—one made up of color, irony, memory, and objects that bring the space to life. The project by 23Bassi harmonizes the domestic dimension with the need for a space that is also suitable for meetings and work.
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The entrance immediately sets the tone for the project. Here, a giraffe by Marcantonio seems to emerge from the wallpaper designed by 23Bassi: an encounter between a three-dimensional object and wall graphics that creates a perspectival and narrative effect. The animal figure is not merely a decoration, but a theatrical presence that guides the eye and transforms the passageway into an experience.
The wallpaper, conceived as a backdrop and landscape, ideally extends the space beyond the wall and transforms the entryway into a threshold between the everyday and the imaginary. It is a gesture that is both subtle and radical, one that clearly illustrates 23Bassi’s design philosophy: starting with a concrete function and building a whole universe around it. The result is a home where design does not serve to standardize, but to tell a story.
The word “Wunderkammer,” or “chamber of wonders,” perfectly captures the spirit of the home. Each room is conceived as a series of discoveries: antique elements and contemporary furnishings, custom-made pieces, art, unexpected finds, decorative surfaces, and almost surreal elements coexist without hierarchy. The goal was not to furnish the space in a conventional sense, but to create an interior that reflects the owner’s personality: curious, direct, cultured, eccentric, and free-spirited.
The interior design project strikes a balance between preservation and transformation. The home’s historic elements are restored and highlighted: parquet floors, decorated and coffered ceilings, stucco, period doors, and proportions all become an integral part of the design. Alongside these traces of the past, new color and decorative choices are introduced, featuring floral wallpaper, mauve and pink tones, velvets, glossy surfaces, and metallic reflections. A multi-layered home, designed to surprise and to be lived in.
The focal point of the dining area is the large disco ball suspended above the table. It is not just a chandelier, but a piece of history brought back to life: a mirror ball from an ’80s nightclub in Perugia, restored and fitted with new spotlights. Its oversized scale and reflective surface transform the perception of the room, amplifying light, depth, and movement. The sphere introduces a pop and almost cinematic element, yet it blends naturally with the room’s classic setting and the decorated walls. It’s an unexpected, ironic, and unforgettable element.
Beneath the mirror ball stands the dining table designed by 23Bassi, the room’s centerpiece and a meeting point between function and sculpture. The large Calacatta Oro marble top exudes a material, luminous, and timeless presence; while the custom-designed base, crafted from super-mirrored steel, amplifies the contemporary and spectacular nature of the ensemble. The metal reflects the hardwood floor, the chairs, the light from the disco ball, and the people seated around the table: the result is a piece of furniture that is constantly changing, intertwined with the life of the home.
Designed not only to host meetings and work sessions, the table is a gathering place even before it is a piece of furniture. It is the place where home life opens up to sharing—whether through dinners, conversations, projects, or gatherings. Marble and steel thus become tools for connection: materials that are significant yet approachable, put to use in a home that is lived in to the fullest.
The kitchen carries this concept forward with an intense and sophisticated mauve-pink color palette, made even more contemporary by the clean lines of the surfaces and the integration of technical elements. Here, color is not merely a decorative accent but a true design element: it defines the space, makes it recognizable, and transforms a compact room into a domestic setting with a bold character. The interiors of the cabinets, the illuminated shelves, and the custom-designed fittings demonstrate how even the most functional spaces can have a strong visual presence without sacrificing order and practicality.
Another key element of Casa Wunderkammer is the custom-designed 23Bassi bar cabinet. From the outside, it looks like a trunk—almost a travel item or a small, mobile set piece; once opened, it reveals a fully equipped and organized bar, designed to hold glasses, bottles, tools, and accessories. Its structure on wheels emphasizes its transformable nature: not a fixed container, but an object capable of participating in the life of the home and changing its function depending on the occasion.
It is a custom-made piece that combines artisanal craftsmanship, creativity, and everyday use, designed to make the act of offering a drink a memorable one. The bar cabinet is also a distillation of the 23Bassi approach: transforming a functional need into a narrative object, crafted to surprise but also to be truly used.
The home was also featured in Elle Decoration UK
