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THE INTERVIEW | MASTERS & MUSES | WORLD OF CABANA
Eminent Italian architect Duccio Conti Caponi sits down with Cabana to share highlights from his extraordinary life and career in design - from growing up among artists, writers and historians, to travelling the Nile and overcoming psychological burdens. Along with beautiful rooms, Duccio shares his personal achievements, greatest challenges, dream (and nightmare) interiors, guiltiest pleasures, and much more.
INTERVIEW BY CAMILLA FRANCES | MASTERS & MUSES | 3 OCTOBER 2025
An interior by Italian architect and interior designer, Duccio Conti Caponi.
The most memorable trip I've taken...
I have always been fascinated by the architectural, decorative and, more generally, aesthetic forms of ancient Egypt, which I find to be both archaic and profoundly modern. The raw power of the Nile, its intense, dreamlike colors and, last but not least, the extraordinary representations of 19th-century travellers, architects and archaeologists are a constant feature of my imagination.
Last March, my girlfriend, some friends and I took a wonderful trip to Luxor, where we were amazed by the richness and beauty of its temples, the painted tombs in the Valley of the Kings and a short but intense trip on the Nile, which, despite being isolated today in the midst of commercialisation, still manages to maintain a very strong, ancient emotional power. We stayed at Al Moudira, which I must say I consider one of the most charming hotels I have ever seen, with impeccable taste, never ostentatious, where you can breathe a traditional, well-kept atmosphere, immersed in a wonderful park.
A bedroom by Italian architect and interior designer, Duccio Conti Caponi.
The best party I've ever been to...
It may seem strange, but the party I remember most fondly is my grandfather Dino Caponi's 80th birthday. He was a painter and Ottone Rosai's favourite pupil. I was very young, about 17, but I remember the evening - at our house near Piazzale Michelangelo - because it was a bit like the ultimate celebration of many of my childhood memories.
At dinner, and after dinner, for the inevitable card game - more precisely scopone scientifico - my grandparents' friends, historians, writers, artists, painters and writers - of the calibre of Mario Luzi, Bigongiari, Montale, Tirinnanzi, Bilenchi and many others - would gather, creating a unique atmosphere of jokes, banter and culture, never too ostentatious. I felt electrified, fascinated, involved and lulled into their world as seen through the eyes of a child, and that evening, the evening of my grandfather's 80th birthday party, was a special sublimation.
All interiors by Duccio Conti Caponi.
A moment that changed my career...
After working in the sector for leading Italian and international firms, a major turning point for me and my career was when I decided to open my own studio because I strongly desired to express my ideas and visions regarding architecture, interior architecture and decoration.
The greatest challenge I've overcome...
A moment I have just experienced, where for the first time I had to face a serious illness, its psychological burden and the process of coming to terms with it; something that I have fortunately overcome, but which has left its mark and through which I have understood and strengthened many profound aspects of my being.
My greatest achievement...
I am quite hard on myself in terms of professional recognition and I tend, wrongly I think, not to celebrate my successes too much; however, I believe that my greatest achievement is the relationship I have established with the artisans and craftsmen who are the cornerstone and pillar of my work and who, together with the wishes of my clients, enable me to realize my project visions.
A layered interior by Duccio Conti Caponi.
An object I will never part with...
My sketchbook, my fountain pen and my current book.
The best gift I've ever been given...
One of the most beautiful and meaningful gifts I have ever received was an etching made by my grandfather Dino, with a dedication to me. More recently, a gift I received from my father for Christmas: two drawings in pen, brown ink and graphite pencil on paper by Carlo Antonio Buffagnotti (1690 - c.1730), depicting two whimsical architectural views of gardens.
My guiltiest pleasure or greatest extravagance...
My most secret pleasure or passion is for the informal art of the 1940s and 1950s, with artists such as De Stael, Kline, Hartung, Soulages, Vedova, and the Gutai group.
My next weekend-away destination...
Seville, with its magnificent palaces, its interiors and its superb mix of styles, from Romanesque to Gothic to Renaissance to Mudejar; but also for the opportunity to still see active crafts, small workshops and therefore an attention to its history and traditions that seems to withstand the waves of today's industrialised consumerism.
Furthermore, as far as I am concerned, it is a stylistic source that I love to incorporate into my style and that I would like to use more and more in the future, reinterpreting and adapting it to the context, both in terms of antique furniture, tiles and lanterns, but also in terms of the colour scheme of the interiors and their layout.
A garden room by Duccio Conti Caponi.
My favorite flea market...
The markets I love most are those in the south of France, Montpellier, Beziers, Avignon, Le Mans; my father used to take me there when I was a child and we have continued to go there; there is a special atmosphere, the gates open around 5.30 in the morning for both exhibitors and customers, and there is therefore a sort of ruthless hunt to “flush out” the most interesting and sought-after items.
My favourite antiques exhibition is the Florence Biennale, both because it takes place in the city where I was born and raised, in one of the most interesting buildings of the period, Palazzo Corsini, and because it still brings together top-level antique dealers who display absolute rarities.
I feel most confident when wearing...
Tailored linen trousers and shirts in summer, to stay cool and comfortable; in winter, I almost always wear a turtleneck, and I have a passion for coats and jackets, which I often design and have made.
My signature scent...
Serge Lutens, L’eau for the summer; Profumoir, Fiori di bamboo, for the winter
My go-to recipe...
Spaghetti “aglio, olio e peperoncino”, a simple dish which, however, requires practice and a few tricks to be truly delicious.
My all-time favorite fabric...
I would like to mention one that I particularly appreciate, from the collection of embroidery, lace, clothing, and fabrics from the 17th to the 20th century belonging to my beloved grandmother, Loretta Caponi, published in 1995 in a volume by Paolo Peri entitled ‘Per raffinare i sensi’ (To Refine the Senses). The fabric (Italy, 17th century) is a fragment of embroidered border on raw linen canvas, executed in red silk using the cross-stitch, oblique cross-stitch and elongated cross-stitch techniques.
The fragment has a stylised floral decoration running along two sides. In the centre, interspersed with stylised floral motifs emerging from a star, there are squares containing an octagon with floral elements in the centre. The outer corners of the squares support rosettes forming a compact rectangle. It is interesting to note that these decorative motifs are also found in traditional Greek embroidery as ornamental elements on items intended for home furnishings. Furthermore, the formal arrangement of the motifs is reminiscent of the embroidery styles popular during the Renaissance.
All interiors by Duccio Conti Caponi.
The person I call for good advice...
My girlfriend, who patiently and lovingly puts up with my moods and manages, with taste, to advise me with great attention to the present and future vision
The person I call for a good time...
My dear friend Concita Vadalà, a superb restorer of antique textiles and someone I adore, with whom I feel completely at ease, sharing great artistic passions and hearty laughter.
My dream dinner party guests...
I would love to have dinner and a deep conversation with Joseph Achkar and Michel Charrière. I greatly admire and respect their work and their aesthetic philosophy.
An exhibition that took my breath away...
One of the exhibitions that recently impressed me most was the retrospective dedicated to Jusepe de Ribera at the Petit Palais in Paris. The exhibition traces the entire career of the great Spanish painter, from his beginnings in Rome, under the strong influence of Caravaggio, to his arrival and development in Naples.
Tenebrism always arouses strong emotions in me, and this exhibition, where over a hundred canvases are wonderfully disturbing and powerful, delicate and bloody at the same time, with a commendable use of light and chiaroscuro, really struck me and gave me the idea of living in a 17th-century palace in Naples and dreaming of interiors and characters enveloped in the warmth and shadows of a worn-out candlelight.
Ideal interiors in three words...
Theatrical - patinated - culturally referenced.
Distasteful interiors in three words...
Pompous - poor in quality - out of context.
A new artist or designer whose work excites me...
Giuseppe de Palma, a 24-year-old painter from Puglia, living in Florence, who looks to the past and brings its narrative to life with great technique and pathos. I really appreciated one of his latest works, The Baptism of Christ, a large oil on canvas.
Just One More Thing...
One Master: Bartolomeo Ammannati
One Muse: Madeleine Castaing
One City: Vienna
One Artwork: Bronzino, ‘Portrait of Andrea Doria as Neptune’, oil on canvas, 149 x 199.5 cm, dated circa 1545–1546, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan.
One Book: Le cose, Georges Perec
One Museum: Giovanni Pratesi Foundation
One Shop: Not one in particular, but given my great passion for collecting and the work I do alongside my studio with Conti Caponi Galleria, an antique and old master paintings gallery I founded, certainly an antique shop.
One Song: Luna; The Smashing Pumpkins
One Color: Dark Blue
One Flower: Herbaceous peonies
One Word to describe your Style: Pictorial
One Word to describe Cabana: Depth
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