Silvio Meroni, Meroni Luxury Projects

Your team is based in Milan, but you’ve taken projects all over the world, from private villas to hotels and cruise ships. Give us some background on your practice, your process, and your team dynamic, which we hear is a family affair.

Over the course of its 40-year existence, the studio founded by brothers Gabriele, Fausto, and Francesco Meroni has evolved from a modest furniture workshop in Italy’s Brianza region to an elite full-service design house, cultivating its unique identity through its proprietary blend of tradition and perpetual innovation. We chatted with Silvio Meroni about what guides their family practice and the journey to bring their winning formula to New York City.

Talk to us about the furnishings you selected for 133’s common areas and amenity spaces. What guided you to each choice? Which pieces are custom?

A main focus was to interpret the lobby as a tailor-made space intended as both a place of service and a place of representing — a place that expresses elegance, sophistication, and dynamism all at the same time. Finding a choice of materials that supported this idea was of the utmost importance, and took relying on the full breadth of our decades-long experience in luxury interior design. We sourced precious marbles, such as "Serpeggiante di Trani" from Italy, frappuccino marble from India, gleaming brass metals, oak wood, and other fine materials that harmoniously interact with each other, defining a truly unique environment. Meroni 1984 also succeeded in enhancing the quintessential New York Art Deco style, represented in the design of a contemporary key. The front door is to be understood symbolically as a handoff between the Art Deco style and the contemporary style represented in the apartments. This continuous juxtaposition and interaction between materials and styles intentionally represents the dynamism and uniqueness of New York and its inhabitants, a cosmopolitan city where tradition meets innovation — old converges with new — every single day.

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At 133 East 73rd Street, you helped convert a sizable c.1899 office building into four luxury residences. What were the biggest challenges in reimagining the structure? Were there any ways its past inspired your vision?

“Continuous study, material research, and learning are the basis of our vision.”

A 750-square-foot great room, accented with coffered ceilings and select oak parquet floors, highlights each of the three full-floor residences at 133 E. 73rd Street. Image: Meroni Luxury Projects.

A bespoke residence, desiged by Meroni Luxury Projects for a private client, frames the quintessential Manhattan "wide view." Image: Meroni Luxury Projects.

The biggest challenge was to figure out the best way to enhance the history and importance of the existing building while not neglecting the importance of its context in today’s urban landscape. Careful observation on site brought to our memory a distant historical period — a time characterized by an authentic, refined lifestyle. These emotions and nostalgia positively influenced the creative process that Meroni 1984 developed to satisfy the client's needs. The main objective was to contextualize and enhance the architectural details present in the façade of the building within a contemporary living concept that expresses values of exclusivity and luxury.

Our story is the tale of a Brianza company famous for the quality and artistry of custom-made furniture. Craftsmanship, uniqueness, and exceptionality distinguish and survive in our tradition. Continuous study, material research, and learning are the basis of our vision — a vision we consider to be a journey through which we draw from the wonders of the world: art, architecture, design, nature, and beyond.

For the lobby at 133 E. 73rd Street, Silvio and team meticulously curated materials that elegantly convey service and representation. Image: Meroni Luxury Projects.

A key artistic sensibility we were able to express in this project was continuity. This happened by first recognizing and treasuring the original design process that started in the 1800s and celebrating that with our updated interior concept, staying true to the building’s historic values of solemnity and elegance with contemporaneity. Marble, wood, and other classic materials were used skillfully in today’s terms. Soft colors were used to simulate light and bring together comfortable interior atmospheres with a sharpness of character and personality. Natural materials bring an authenticity in spirit that encapsulates a thousand years of history. Through their materiality, they evoke innate emotional and sensory responses that channel our ancestral connections with nature. Wood, with is veining textures that showcase the true artistry of nature, is fragrant on the nose, gives a pleasant tactile sensation, and carries sound in a soft, unmistakable way. A wood-paneled space gives a feeling of warmth and comfort. Marble is precious, used since ancient times to enhance buildings — it recalls the "luxury of stones" of ancient cultures, and its composition communicates richness and solitude.

It was a Neo-Renaissance building to begin with, but your latest overhaul welcomed a next-level infusion of European sensibilities. Tell us about some of the textures and materials you brought in — there’s a lot of marble in there — and how it interplays with the original fabric.

It must certainly be the most stunning private jet we've outfitted — not only because of its exceptional size, but also for the large quantity of entirely custom-made details and finishes which were specially developed for this project. It took several years to develop it in collaboration with Boeing and the Completion Center to be sure that everything we specially designed on request of the client complied with security and technical mandatory requirements. On this project, we innovated by creating never before-designed elements, such as a curved glass automatic sliding door to separate the private areas of the plane from the entrance hall. This element which would have been easily built in a house has taken several months of development and samples to reach all the binding requirements to be authorized on board of an aircraft.

Let’s talk about the big bird. It doesn’t take two full hands to count how many 747s are flying in BBJ (Boeing Business Jet) combinations, but your team famously designed the cabin for one of these rare planes. What were the most critical considerations for making your design fly?

How do you see the future of traditionalism in design (if there is one at all)?

Floor-to-ceiling boiserie brings depth and sophistication to a Meroni-designed Paris penthouse, melding clean-lined modernity with more traditional sensibilities. Image: Meroni Luxury Projects.

From our point of view, we experience two strong places where traditionalism in design is finding a future. The first is in craftsmanship. Here, traditional techniques and materials still play a major part, and clients are more and more sensitive to the handmade, traditional ways — trimming, embroidering, cabinetmaking. Second is the design itself: Along with design briefs from passionate clients to recreate classical décors in the taste of the XVIIIth or XIXth century, we've seen an increase of requests from clients for what we call "classic contemporary style." For these clients, we create interiors that softly mix classical and modern elements and styles with a homey and very personal atmosphere, halfway between traditionalism and the latest creation in design and allow personal expression that tells a story. They're also interiors that are made to last, and answer clients' concerns about sustainability. These are the types of projects we love to design, and we have a great and long experience doing it.

What about this project best represents Meroni’s core values? What about it screams, uniquely, Upper East Side?

133 was a canvas to showcase commitment, seriousness, professionalism, craftsmanship, and artistic sensibility — the values that best represent Meroni 1984 and the Made in Italy throughout the world. We learned through our site study that the Upper East Side, even by the standards of New York City neighborhoods, is a place that has always been immersed in a process of continuous renewal. It’s a nuanced place where the new takes shape without coming into conflict with the past. In our opinion, it’s a place where it’s possible to live harmoniously within a bustling world-class city filled with opportunities.

A spacious roof terrace crowns the penthouse at 133 E. 73rd Street. Image: Meroni Luxury Projects.

Silvio (right) and Daniele Meroni (left) represent the second generation of their family's practice, founded by Francesco (middle) and his brothers. Photo: Meroni Luxury Projects.