Elle Decor Grand Hotel

Like a Hypertext: Ludovica Serafini and Roberto Palomba’s HyperHotel

The fifth edition of Elle Decor Grand Hotel, designed by Ludovica Serafini and Roberto Palomba, takes the form of the HyperHotel, a fully digital concept. Much like a hypertext, it doesn’t follow a linear or straightforward path but thrives on connections and references.

When we designed this installation, we conceived it as a hypertext
with spaces that connect you to other realities, functions, and emotions, just as the web does

Ludovia Serafini + Roberto Palomba

The HyperHotel’s primary connection is to the city and its surroundings—it’s deeply rooted in Milan. That said, the digital medium turns a local event into a global one, enabling visitors from anywhere in the world. This isn’t a mere slideshow of project images; it’s something far more intricate. For instance, the lobby, which in real life might simply be furnished, becomes in the digital project a space where the concierge offers advice on what to do and see in Milan.

Thanks to the digital format, there’s no pre-set path to follow. Visitors navigate the layout, which retains the project’s concrete foundation, but they can choose which environment to explore first. The lobby is the starting point: it introduces a grand atrium with Let it be sofas designed by us and Tolomeo lamps. We then imagined three distinct lounges.


Roberto Palomba

One of the lounges is dedicated to music, featuring Sacco armchairs, another to visual arts, closely tied to Milan’s museums, and a third to books, where visitors can relax on the iconic Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman, illuminated by Joe Colombo’s Coupelamp.

Roberto Palomba

Livia Peraldo Matton, the editor-in-chief of Elle Decor Italia, didn’t ask us to design a digital hotel but rather a hotel for an existing place. It became "Hyper" because, while rooted in a concrete project, it allowed space for imagination, linking the historical context to our digital vision. As architects, we know every single detail of creativity: we let our imagination soar but always remain grounded in reality. Therefore, all the fantasies we incorporated into the HyperHotel are architecturally viable—even when, for instance, we envisioned a pool at the rooftop entrance or a suite on the upper floor, currently home to the Museum of Costume, Fashion, and Image.
This hotel concept also emerged in response to the pandemic.Livia asked us to send a message to the hospitality world in a post-Covid era.

Ludovica Serafini

The project continues with an open kitchen designed as a theatrical space and a restaurant. The suite, envisioned on the first floor, features a large desk for smart working and expansive windows—entirely fictional—offering a dreamy, idealized view of Milan, with landmarks like the Duomo, Torre Velasca, Gae Aulenti skyscraper, and Torre Branca.


Roberto Palomba