A glittering masterpiece on the Rhine: The astonishing revival of Villa Kitzig
Designer Olaf Kitzig has turned an old Düsseldorf villa into a walk-through masterpiece.
Six steps take you up to the front door of the listed villa on the Rhine before a sharp left turn guides you through a square anteroom in the large hall, which leads off to the kitchen, dining room, guest living room and fireplace room. Oak parquet flooring stretches out beneath your feet and grey silk wallpaper flows above the high skirting board. Surface-mounted Vector wall lights draw your attention to large pieces of art. The unpretentious design and wide variety of colours of these lights mean they fit in perfectly, whatever the setting. With their high performance, a very agreeable basic lighting is created.
Choreography of colours
Designer Olaf Kitzig redeveloped the villa to create a walk-through choreography of colours, surfaces and textures: grey in the kitchen, anthracite in the dining room, sand in the living room and red in the library.
It all starts in the kitchen with its marble-topped island where two lighting scenarios are combined: adjustable Vector spotlights provide basic lighting, while Teti by Vico Magistretti directs your gaze at two historical portraits.
The kitchen leads directly into the dining room with its dark table and matching chairs under the historical beamed ceiling. The black chandeliers made from mouth-blown Murano glass emphasise the contrasts in the opulent simplicity of this room.
(Photograph ©Marvin Schwienheer, Cologne)
(Photograph ©Marvin Schwienheer, Cologne)
(Photograph ©Marvin Schwienheer, Cologne)
Your gaze then moves to the sand-tone living room in which mocha-coloured curtains surround a beige sofa landscape. Hovering above all of it is a classic: Ernesto Gismondi’s Miconos pendant light with its transparent diffusor made of blown glass.
It all appears to culminate in the fireplace room, with its explosion of colour in deep red and vibrant orange. Copper-coloured ceramic tiles surround the fireplace, where the red-hot coloured chimney appears to be reflected in the two crimson chairs. Again it is the contrasts that Kitzig skilfully plays off against each other: complementary turquoise vases emphasise a feeling of comforting warmth filling the space. In the centre is a simple pendant light: nh by the Shanghai design office Neri&Hu. Quite unpretentiously it connects far-eastern elegance with modern elements, thus matching the high-quality ambiance of a collector’s room with its Asian-seeming vases and cabinets made from acrylic glass. In the hall too, nh makes an appearance as a floor lamp, showing off the iconic Antropus armchair in exactly the right light.
(Photograph ©Marvin Schwienheer, Cologne)
(Photograph ©Marvin Schwienheer, Cologne)
Harmony of old and new
Built on the banks of the Rhine in 1926, this villa was one of Peter Josef Kleesattel’s last works. Known for his churches, the architect designed a grand property: after the war, this two-storey house with its prominent facade of brick masonry and natural stone elements was the residence of the British Consul General, before standing empty for many years and being left in a state of disrepair.
Windows, doors, fixtures and fittings – everything had to be restored, replaced or modernised. In 2021 the Düsseldorf designer and his team set about bringing the 1,000 square metre property back to life. The former property and garden of the Consul General would glitter again in all its old splendour. Kitzig redesigned the house from scratch to provide a showroom for his international design office, private accommodation on the first floor, and work spaces under the roof. The studio has its own entrance: this is where it is all about providing perfect work lighting so that ideas can grow. Alphabet of Light pendant lights and Demetra Professional table lights combine aesthetics and efficiency with high light output. In the black and white office kitchen, the delicate A. 24 Sharping ceiling light ensures light is focused on the table.
For Olaf Kitzig, it was “love at first sight” when he saw the old house. And as befits an obsessive passion, the designer was unable to ignore his desire for harmony between old and new. It was all about particular details, about colours, fabrics and the harmony between materials and furniture. “Every project that we plan is influenced by me,” says the interior designer. “So here it was about revitalising the property in the style of the time it was built and emphasising features that combine state-of-the-art technology and modern interior design.”
(Photograph: © Marvin Schwienheer, Cologne)
(Photograph: © Marvin Schwienheer, Cologne)
The very best lighting design
The renovations took two years – all during the pandemic as well. A dilapidated city villa without floors, plaster, radiator covers or doors was turned into a modern masterpiece that combines its existing lattice windows, plastered ceilings, original staircase, banisters and built-in furniture with contemporary design. “Natural stone, silk and flock wallpaper, solid wood and leather covers form the backdrop for the art and furnishings,” says Kitzig, to produce a walk-through composition in which individually designed rugs and large works of art “have a radiance that gives the spaces their vitality, individuality and special aura”. Kitzig single-handedly came up with the lighting concept too, which ranges from indirect lighting on the staircase and plastered ceilings and the wall spotlight for art, all the way to striking pendant and floor lights. All the light sources can be controlled and dimmed individually or in groups, so the spaces can be changed in a split second – in keeping with the mood.
Time and again the lights themselves take centre stage: Gople pendant lights for instance fascinate with their shimmering glass bodies and influence the atmosphere in the wine cellar and staircase, where each light is unique. The undisputed star though is La Linea from BIG: thanks to its patented optics, the highly flexible tube ensures completely homogenous and agreeable shadow-free light. Above the palatial staircase it becomes something really eye-catching, almost a work of art in itself.
Lighting design has always been important to Kitzig Design Studios. However, in this villa on the banks of the Rhine – home to the design office’s showroom – the team really have surpassed themselves.
