Celebrated Milan gallery Nilufar comes to London for the first time this week, taking up residence in a £10 million apartment in Mayfair.
The 2,355 sq m space on South Audley Street, which goes on sale imminently, was curated by Nilufar’s founder Nina Yashar and renovated by London-based interior architect Shalini Misra.
The two women have known each other for years, so a collaboration in London made perfect sense. Misra has been creating high-end homes around the world for 18 years and is well versed in the requisites of the super rich. Acres of Armani marble, seamless technology and shiny tactile finishes make up the three bedroomed space. Nilufar staples – Italian midcentury classics, limited edition pieces from young designers and hand-knotted rugs, all of which can be purchased separately – make up the rest. Cabinetry is largely handmade in the UK, marbles and veneers come from Italy and artworks (among them a £1.5m Warhol) are supplied by Italian galleries Giò Marconi and Robilant + Voena.
‘I have always been keen on creating new and unexpected associations between furniture and space,’ says Yashar, who formed her furniture-in-situ concept, entitled Squat, in 2012. London is its fifth edition, after Milan, Paris and Beirut.
Misra also runs real estate company Genessia with her old Delhi friend Ekta Varma. Together, the pair purchased the apartment, that had been in a state of neglect for 30 years. It’s one of many they have renovated for potential overseas buyers. Judging by the string of well-heeled visitors swishing down its marble hallway, it won’t be theirs for long.
‘I have always been keen on creating new and unexpected associations between furniture and space,’ says Yashar of her work
Misra has been creating high-end homes around the world for 18 years and is well versed in the requisites of the super rich
Inspired by the apartment’s historic features, the interiors will challenge the boundaries between art, design and architecture
Squat will be presenting work by those showcased at Yashar’s Nilufar gallery; from design masters such as Gio Ponti and Ico Parisi to contemporary designers and young talents such as Patricia Urquiola, Martino Gamper and Bethan Laura Wood
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Nilufar website, or Shalini Misra’s website
-
The future of Copenhagen Fashion Week? Look towards the students of SAFDTaught by designer Anne Sofie Madsen, the tightly knit students of the Scandinavian Academy of Fashion Design (SAFD) are adding a new jolt of energy to the city’s manicured fashion scene. Dal Chodha heads to Copenhagen to meet its rising stars
-
Meet Goodesign, the modular furniture studio with big dreamsWallpaper* speaks to Emmanuel Popoteur, the self-taught designer behind New York’s Goodesign, a studio creating intuitive, adaptable furniture for modern living
-
Could reimagining play reshape childhood? 21st Europe argues for playgrounds as infrastructureA new blueprint by think tank 21st Europe and Spacon calls for playgrounds to be treated as vital civic infrastructure – on par with museums, stations and energy grids
-
Lee Broom’s brutalist-inspired ‘Beacon’ will light up London as Big Ben strikes the hourSet to pulse through London Design Festival 2025 (13-22 September) and beyond, the British industrial designer’s sculptural light installation on the South Bank draws on its surroundings
-
Yuri Suzuki turns sound into architecture at Camden Arts ProjectsThe sound designer unveils ‘Utooto’, an interactive installation at London’s Camden Arts Projects (until 5 October 2025), in which visitors collaboratively build a sonic piece of architecture
-
Alex Tieghi-Walker unveils his plans for Brompton Design District 2025Ahead of London Design Festival 2025, we catch up with New York gallerist Alex Tieghi-Walker about his appointment as curator of the Brompton Design District programme
-
‘The point was giving ordinary people access to bold taste’: how Ikea brought pattern into the home‘Ikea: Magical Patterns’ at Dovecot Gallery in Edinburgh tells the story of a brand that gave us not only furniture, but a new way of seeing our homes – as canvases for self-expression
-
Design beyond humans: a new exhibition argues that the world doesn’t revolve around us‘More Than Human’ at London's Design Museum (until 5 October 2025) asks what happens when design focuses on the perspectives and needs of other species, from bees to seaweed
-
‘100 Years, 60 Designers, 1 Future’: 1882 Ltd plate auction supports ceramic craftThe ceramics brand’s founder Emily Johnson asked 60 artists, designers, musicians and architects – from John Pawson to Robbie Williams – to design plates, which will be auctioned to fund the next generation of craftspeople
-
‘Disabled people have always been here’: a new V&A show centres on disability in designCurator Natalie Kane takes us through five key exhibits from the London show, where design points the way to a more inclusive society
-
Malta’s London Design Biennale installation ‘reclaims death as a moment of reflection, not fear’Wallpaper* speaks with Andrew Borg Wirth, curator of Malta's installation, ‘URNA’, which reimagines cremation rituals
