The project
Behind a quiet Milan facade, landscape designers turned a narrow courtyard into a lush secret garden. At its center stands a freestanding AP-430 pergola — placed away from the walls so the planting could grow around it on all four sides.
A room without walls
The retractable fabric roof opens almost completely, so on warm evenings the pavilion is simply a canopy of leaves and cloth. When the Milan rains arrive, the roof closes in seconds and the garden dinner goes on under a soft, warm light.
Design notes
A matte graphite frame keeps the structure quiet against the planting, while slim perimeter gutters collect rainwater unobtrusively. The owners use the pavilion as a summer study by day and an open-air cinema at night — one roof, three lives.
