Luca Guadagnino, the director, always paints the Italian summer in the most perfect colors.

Ripe peaches hang heavily on the trees, their golden yellows and peachy pinks outlining the fullness of the fruit; cycling along country lanes, one bathes in the scent of plants, wrapped in a translucent vitality; the shimmering sea is a cascade of layered blues, while the forests and lawns are so lush they seem to overflow with green, and the sunlight could almost be described as “abundant.” When it spills across the pale yellow walls, it feels as if nature’s glow and human-made pigments are complementing one another.

These recurring scenes in Call Me by Your Name conjure a primal vision of summer in everyone’s mind:

In the hottest weather of 1983, undisturbed by the distractions of digital communication, only the clamor of cicadas, the abundance of plants, and the distorted beauty of the two-story villa.

The juices of fruit, music, and time flow together, impossibly slow yet incredibly real. As described in the novel End of the Summer on which the film is based: “That summer I heard birds singing, smelled the plants, and felt the mist rising from the ground in those warm, sun-filled days…”

And yet, that summer has not yet ended.

—Luca Guadagnino has a new project. This time, it’s a hotel.

At the Palazzo Talìa in the heart of Rome, Guadagnino’s interior design firm, studiolucaguadagnino, has unveiled its first venture into hotel design, encompassing the lobby, restaurant, bar, spa, and all public spaces, as well as a rooftop suite.

At first, this cross-industry leap may seem absurd, yet it feels entirely reasonable.

Guadagnino believes that for a film to come to life, the environment is just as crucial as the actors and the script. “In film, you can always change the story through editing. But you can’t edit or change a house.”

Guadagnino’s narrative is grounded in a deep understanding of human desire. He often films in historic noble villas or lesser-known architectural marvels from the Art Deco period.

Within the utopian-like settings created by diverse architectural forms, the desires and emotions he depicts are housed in more concrete spaces, crystallizing into a palpable beauty of everyday life.

His globally successful film Call Me by Your Name, which grossed $43 million and won an Academy Award, is a story shaped by its perfect environment.

Located just an hour’s drive from Milan, the historic town of Crema in the Lombardy region boasts a 14th-century cathedral and equally ancient noble residences, embodying the essence of traditional Italian style.

Yellow walls, green chairs, tapestry-covered fireplaces, coffee on white dining tables, and green shadows in the pool, split by sunlight, each store a “happening” from the story, whether it’s a full-bodied desire, burning love, or inescapable pain.

While settings are often crafted to serve the narrative, they can also create their own story. And for viewers, the emotions planted in a particular setting will surely resurface in similar spaces.

Like the fiery summer, beautiful feelings may not last forever, but memories can—and perhaps so can the hotel.

Once again, the story of Palazzo Talìa is still about summer.

Talìa is the muse of traditional Roman comedy and light poetry. Her image still appears in the frescoes of palaces to this day.

Palazzo Talìa was originally built in the 16th century. It was once a school for children from impoverished families, named Nobile Collegio del Nazareno, after Zeus’s daughter. As the school’s reputation grew, it began to teach noble youths, eventually becoming a renowned European academy that not only nurtured scholars but also produced popes.

In official introductions, it is even described with a somewhat sacred tribute:

“Here once stood the residence of the gods, where the Aqua Virgo (Virgo Aqueduct) flowed. Magnificent temples once thrived here. During the Roman era, nymphs and muses were revered as protectors of the arts and the waters. Over the centuries, houses and palaces were built one atop another, until, during the Renaissance, the humanist Angelo Maria Colocci (secretary to Pope Leo X de’ Medici) constructed his residence here.”

In 1999, with the closure of the school, history scattered like smoke. When it was revisited, it had already been transformed into a hotel, located in the city center between the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps, just a few steps away from the Quirinal Palace (the president’s residence) and Via Veneto, among other famous landmarks.

Situated in a prime location and after three years of meticulous restoration, this Renaissance building seems almost tailor-made to serve as the stage for Guadagnino.

However, this is not Guadagnino’s “first” foray into interior design.

Previously, the director’s studio was involved in designing Aesop boutiques in Rome and London, where his unique sense of color taste showcased Aesop’s pure, minimalist aesthetic.

At the same time as his new film premiered at the Venice Film Festival, Guadagnino also served as the artistic director of the biennial Homo Faber exhibition.

However, although his interior design firm, Studiolucaguadagnino, was established in 2017, this marks Guadagnino’s first appearance as a hotel designer.

Pablo Molezum, the project manager for Studiolucaguadagnino, said that the design of Palazzo Talìa employs the same color-driven approach, though they place special emphasis on light and the historical character of the space.

“Thinking about how to intervene in such a historic place and breathe new life into it with a completely different yet bespoke look is incredibly exciting.”

The current owner of the hotel, Elia Federici, is effusive in his praise for Guadagnino: “I admire Luca’s acute aesthetic sensibility—not only in his films but also in his complete modernity, his attention to detail, and his commitment to creating custom experiences, a tenacity that is uniquely Sicilian.”

In fact, becoming a designer has always been a dream for Guadagnino. Not only is he adept at using space to tell stories, but he also excels at creating stories through space:

“I am a filmmaker, I use visual language and visual media. I make the most of this visual medium.”

Chromaticism is a key element of Luca Guadagnino’s visual language, almost omnipresent in all of his films.

It is a revolutionary color theory, a precursor to Impressionism, which places great emphasis on the impact of color in enhancing a work’s expressiveness and overall effect.

For example, in the 2018 remake of the horror film Suspiria, Guadagnino didn’t rely on the overwhelming vivid colors and striking reds that dominated the 1977 version. Instead, he used rusty tones, earthy colors, and somber gray-browns to temper the tension. Initially restrained, the use of red gradually enters the narrative, signifying violence and turmoil. Red seeps into the film, foreshadowing the inevitable bloodshed.

In fact, most of Guadagnino’s films feature settings that “lean toward the hazy colors of an antique candy shop.”

This love for color, paired with geometric shapes that cut through the hues and custom-made furniture and decor, has become one of his most easily recognizable design tastes.

His interior design debut, La Filanda (a former silk factory by Lake Como), created rich visual layers through the use of monochromatic colors. Geometric lines—spirals, circles, squares—served as the primary design language, while oak paneling and brass fittings added a subtle touch of luxury, enhancing the warm, bright, and soft atmosphere without overpowering the delicate colors.

The design of Palazzo Talìa follows this same approach.

Designing a historic building to preserve the gifts of time while infusing it with modernity is no simple task. The ancient frescoes at the top of the rooms, along with architectural details on the cornices, required not only appropriate color restoration but also a careful color palette to complement them.

At the entrance of the hotel, a Murano glass chandelier designed by Napoleone Martinuzzi in the 1940s hangs.

This chandelier was “invited” by Guadagnino himself. It seems he could already envision the scene in his mind and knew that it would become the core element of the entire space.

In the completed rooms, the chandelier serves almost as a softener between the classical and modern beauties. The beige walls and the magnificent silver chandelier act as two visual focal points, drawing attention to the mountain-like form of the off-white sofa.

White takes center stage here, but the retro colors that frame it are truly the magic-makers—the color inspiration for the carpet comes from the original frescoes restored in Mgana Hall. The peach pink, soft yellow, olive green, lake blue, and black, divided by circles and squares, subtly foreshadow what’s to come. The blue-violet hydrangeas in the corners echo the carpet’s edge colors and are the perfect finishing touch to the yellow-toned space.

In the corridor opposite the sofa and courtyard, a wool carpet with geometric floral patterns and cherrywood paneling creates a warm, vibrant atmosphere.

The ochre and peacock blue contrasting carpet, primarily in squares, complements the form of the ceiling and columns, weaving a strong modern style with retro tones that meld into the ancient decor, leading guests toward the central staircase and Magna Hall.

Magna Hall, adorned with frescoes by 18th-century Italian artist Gaspare Serenario, is also known as the “Fresco Hall.” The 36-foot-high ceiling, checkerboard floors, and the Roman busts displayed along the walls are all iconic elements of this ancient hall.

Today, Magna Hall’s cool gray-green tones have been unified into a soft beige. Similar to the corridor design, the space’s modernity is enhanced by the clean lines of pink and orange square sofas and the geometric patterned contrast carpets, which gently echo the historical elements above.

The room connecting the entrance hall with the downstairs restaurant follows the same approach, with olive green sofas, stools, and vases harmonizing with the other colors in the space.

In the Tramae restaurant, also featuring yellow and green tones, the ceiling’s square elements are the most orderly, while the squares on the mirrored wall seem to constantly shift. Their combination gives the entire space a balanced dynamic—light and heavy, still and moving.

Chromaticism and geometric shapes are the most striking elements in Guadagnino’s design, but the decorative power of custom furniture and plants should not be overlooked.

For example, in the penthouse suite, the sloped ceiling is lined with cherry wood paneling, and the room features a niche bed, while the pink sofa and chairs are custom-designed. Some of the furniture was even the result of a collaboration between studiolucaguadagnino, FontanaArte, and Dedar.

In the Bar della Musa, the warm yellow tones intensify the oranges and pinks, both to complement the original frescoes on the ceiling and to create a variation in color across different areas. The textured mirror panels on the walls further emphasize the hues of the frescoes through reflection.

The colorful, wave-patterned bar counter, commissioned from a Sicilian ceramic artist, remains the brightest and most eye-catching feature in the entire bar, even with the frescoes “jewels above.”’

In the gym and spa area, the emerald green ceramic tiles from Spanish craftsmen create a flowing sense of mist and water.

Beyond these custom pieces, nature itself is an indispensable element in the “Guadagnino landscape.”

The lush greens act as a powerful booster in defining the ambiance and color tone of the space.

The courtyard, filled with massive palms, banana trees, rubber plants, and other tropical plants, is a “urban oasis” created in collaboration with landscape artist Blu Mambor, embodying the Mediterranean garden brimming with tropical flair.

In a 2022 interview with Architectural Digest, Guadagnino said, “I’ve always enjoyed working in a space unrelated to my practice as a filmmaker, where I must create a space to tell a three-dimensional story.”

Balancing decorative effects through various tones is one of Guadagnino’s strengths. His keen pairing of plant landscapes, furniture, and artwork often transforms decorative styles such as “luxury” or “vintage” into a veil that covers deeper emotional narratives. This is why telling stories, expressing emotions, and preserving memories through space is not difficult for him.

Lush, fiery, tender, and bright—today, Palazzo Talìa is like a vibrant summer. Stepping through the large doors, paved in beige stone, everyone finds their own memory of Call Me by Your Name.

Great hotel design transcends the hotel itself, and great interior design goes beyond space. Guadagnino has achieved this, and so has Palazzo Talìa.