d+a | Issue 126 • 2022

12 design and architecture #126 mood board Italy’s lamatilde collaborated with renowned chef Antonino Cannavacciuolo to showcase the new Laqua Vineyard in Casanova. Text by Amy Van Photos courtesy of lamatilde/Beppe Bracato The new Laqua Vineyard, located in the town of Casanova, between Pisa and Volterra, opened its doors in June 2022. Turin-based studio, lamatilde, designed this project which translates the Cannavacciuolo group’s passion for hospitality into a new and welcoming resort in Tuscany. Overlooking verdant vineyards, this setting was originally home to a theatre. Theatre, therefore, is the core concept that brings the project to life. With careful renovation work in search of the ideal dialogue between ancient and contemporary, lamatilde created for the project a stage for the perfect pairing of culinary art, oenology and Italian hospitality. Impressively, after just five months of opening, Cannavacciuolo Vineyard Restaurant was awarded one Michelin star in November. The studio’s design approach for the restaurant is based on an interplay between contemporary elements and tradition. For instance, for the ceiling panels, lamatilde chose golden hues that can reflect and diffuse external light, giving the restaurant a warmer atmosphere. As the building used to be a theatre, the original space was rather dark. Hence, the studio devised different elements to make the halls brighter. For example, the stage curtain-style draperies allow for different solutions to divide the space and for further flexibility in adjusting the light and the mood. The two counters at the opposite ends of the main hall resemble two stages – one dedicated to culinary arts and another to wine: two visual focuses that provide guests with their first bearings in this “scenic” space. setting the stage