Where to go in Milan – Ceresio 7 new gym and spa

Oct

Where to go in Milan – Ceresio 7 new gym and spa

A fun and true fact about the coolest developments that the city has witnessed? Known for its design community and how Salone del Mobile improves Milan economy, it’s funny how often we see Milan’s interior design and architectural projects fall into the hands of Milan’s fashion designers. Where to go in Milan? To the new Ceresio 7 Gym & Spa renovated space!

Take Giorgio Armani as an example who brought Nobu to his Emporio Armani store in 2000, massaging locals into their current obsession with sushi. Look at Dolce & Gabbana, who brought the mixed art of hot shaves, martini bars and perfectly cooked al dente pasta together in its menswear shops. And of course, there’s Miuccia Prada who, with her impressively Prada Foundation...

The latest designers to give the city a real culture kick are Dean and Dan Caten, the Canadian twins behind Dsquared2, who are known for their runway extravaganzas, fabled late-night parties and even a restaurant featuring two rooftop pools, housed in their label’s via Ceresio headquarters.

The Caten’s latest enterprise is so ambitious that it feels rather paltry to call it a gym. In fact, the space, which was designed by the local architectural studio Storage Associati, spans three levels, Ceppo Lombardo stone and brushed brass detailing. Ceresio 7 offers a full spa with multiple beauty rooms, an underground pool, nutritionists, and esoteric, impossible-to-find-in-Milan treatments such as cryotherapy and thalassotherapy by Biologique Recherche.

The Ceppo Lombardo stone, for example, very widespread in the period all over Milanese territory, which was used for the stone structures, or the brass, used as wall cladding to create a vivid counterpoint to the grey of the untreated cement walls, and the black of the training equipment, the rubber floor and the large iron windows.

The language becomes less crude, even while maintaining the same rigour, in the private areas and the changing rooms, where Lombard stone and brass are joined by Okoume wood for the cupboards and white ceramic in the showers, and the spa, where stone, brass and glass return in a more intimate, softer ambience in terms of proportion and lighting, and in furniture designed to order.