Inkiostro Bianco wallpapers for Radisson Santa Sofia satiate elegance and comfort

Elegance reigns supreme within the Radisson Santa Sofia Hotel in the heart of Milan, Italy, emanating from a mix of elements and decor suggestions made evident in its common areas, recalling typical atmospheres of Anglo-Saxon hospitality. 

The austere character of the building's exterior has been lightened by the decorative choices articulating its interior design, guided by a chromatic palette in shades of green, witnessed within the fils rouge between the wall coverings, the textures of the soft jacquard fabrics, and the wallpapers. All the elements come alive through an eclectic mix, visible especially, in the choice of furnishings and accessories, suggestive of experiences and memories that lead from one part of the globe to another.

Inkiostro Bianco, an Italy-based brand, contributed immensely to the project by offering consultancy in the development of the wallpaper decorations, which, thanks to the dialogue with the designers, were made entirely ad hoc for three different areas of the hotel, meeting both aesthetic and technical requirements.

The choice of wallpapers for the Sofia Restaurant stems from the need to have the private dining rooms stay connected and separated at the same time, creating a link with the other rooms in the restaurant. The spaces here are decorated with the same graphic motif albeit in different tones, to establish a necessary link between the public and private spaces.

Alongside these technical requirements, the defining decoration for the restaurant design was guided by an emotional component, touching upon the spheres of memories associated with the warmth and flavour that the dining room awakens. Inkiostro Bianco interpreted the request by researching period decorations and readapting them to the contemporary project. Beginning from classic decorations from the end of the 19th century, a reinterpretation of a brocade effect was created, bringing the 'retro' style of old papers back to the present in a modern chromatic key, in line with the colour palette identified for the project. The chromatic variants were chosen for the two different areas of the restaurant, setting dialogue with the furnishings, which remain in the same colour scheme, although employed in different materials.

The intervention on the seventh floor, in the Issei Rooftop restaurant area, was developed in response to a technical requirement—the idea was to create a continuous 'striped' concept joining the walls and ceiling, initially envisaged as a painting on site. Considering the particularity of the intervention area, which features curved walls and a ceiling connection, the designers opted for the use of wallpapers, guaranteeing graphic quality while enhancing the aesthetic result without comprising the original concept.

The dialogue with Inkiostro Bianco led to the definition of the decoration with irregular lines at various heights, preserving the original idea of stripes, along with the technical need to connect the ceiling and walls. This ensured avoiding random interruptions of the graphics at the points where the different volumes join and created an effect of 'aesthetically desired interruptions.' The wallpapers offer a palette that matches the tones of the table in warm colours of raw earth, and exotic colours that light up in contrast with black and orange, as witnessed in the encounter between the Japanese and South American flavours of the multi-ethnic cuisine of the Issei Rooftop space.

The Italian brand confirms its experience in the field of creative design made available through a consultancy service based on dialogue, listening, and reliability, as a dedicated laboratory of ideas applying itself to sophisticated interior settings.

Project: Studio Atelier P

Interior decorator: Alessandro Mario Cesario