Architecture Blog

“Even before it had opened, everyone was talking about it,” quips Natalija Nikitina. “It” would be Signor Lievito, the hot new Milanese boulangerie whose baguettes and bulkas and exotic Apulian focaccias are (almost) too good to eat. “The name is a tribute to the central ingredient, a mother yeast that is over 120 years old,” says the Latvian model-turned-baker, whose tryst with baking began during the lockdown. “It started first for my family, then for my friends. And then, in a short time, I found myself delivering loaves around the neighborhood.”

For Natalija, the business opportunity was clear as day. And so, she snapped up a shop and tapped Hannes Peer—an architect and designer who had been associated with her family for over ten years—to breathe life into the interior. She was familiar with Hannes’s design approach. After all, he had designed the shops for N°21 (the fashion brand helmed by her husband), and overhauled their apartment not a year before.

Bakery Interiors Good Enough to Eat.

A new-age bakery is no longer a place to simply buy delicious bread. Hell, no! This is where we can expect to discover fully immersive sensory experiences informed by colour, shape, and texture, reminiscent of the food on offer. We couldn’t be happier about the rise of designer bakeries—who wouldn’t want to spend time in a place that captures the essence of a delicious, freshly baked, golden carbohydrate goodness?

As the interior started taking shape, a challenge emerged—the shop was petite, hardly enough to fit a sales counter, a small bar, an open workshop and a relaxation area. But Hannes had a trick up his sleeve: “Everything was made to measure—from the layout to the furnishings. We integrated everything into the architecture.” What resulted was an art gallery-esque aura, with abstract wall line drawings, cosy banquettes and portable chairs, and loaves on shelves that dazzled like little sculptures.

Aera Gluten-free Bakery in Berlin by Gonzalez Haase.

For the second Berlin branch of Aera – a gluten-free bread bakery and café located at Barlin’s Rosenthaler Platz – the architecture duo Gonzalez Haase designed a space that takes full advantage of its prominent location by being impossible to overlook…

“I had only one demand—that the aesthetic is kept natural,” recalls Natalija. For Hannes, the natural next step was to create a base palette.

“Natalija was keen on mirroring the spirit of her living room, especially the materiality of the large brick fireplace,” says Hannes, who used terracotta tiles for the walls and floor, as well as the external facade.

“We wanted to create an osmosis between the interior and exterior. The white plaster is an allusion to Californian modernism, which is a constant source of inspiration in everything I do—a piece of Palm Springs in Milan, as I like to call it.”

Indeed, with Nordic fare, California colours and Milanese charm, this boulangerie borrows the best bits from everywhere.

Highlights from Milan Design Week & Salone del Mobile 2022, Part 02.

Part 02 of our visual diary from Milan Design Week and Salone Del Mobile 2022 captures our epic design travels in, across and out of the city, and over at Rho Fiera…

[Images courtesy of Hannes Peer. Photography by Helenio Barbetta.]