Inside Oscar Lucien Ono’s Dream Hotel at Salone del Mobile
The French designer transforms a section of the fair into a cinematic retreat that traces a traveler’s path through a serene atmosphere with sumptuous materials and opulent touches
In the past few years, Salone del Mobile has been making unexpected moves during Milan Design Week, expanding its program with increasingly cinematic installations that draw visitors beyond the fair’s commercial pulse. A series of “Thinking Rooms” conceived by David Lynch offered a meditative retreat two years ago, followed by a villa-like environment fashioned by French designer Pierre-Yves Rochon that evoked the intimacy of a private residence. For this year’s edition, the fair turned to Oscar Lucien Ono, the founder of interiors studio Maison Numéro 20, who introduced an imagined hotel at the center of the bustling exhibition halls.
Titled “Aurea, an Architectural Fiction,” the installation presents a sequence of richly composed interiors that guide visitors through a dreamlike journey. Each room operates as a chapter, from a luminous garden to a shadowed bar, with materials, light, and proportion whisking the narrative forward. Drawing on Art Deco, surrealism, mythology, and cinema, Ono constructed a layered visual language that reflects his signature balance of opulent touches with a measured hand. The project also advances a thoughtful approach to materials, with elements sourced and produced through circular processes. As Ono says, “the collaboration gave me an opportunity to express a personal vision of hospitality, in which architecture and design give shape to intimate scenarios through a narrative composition and a sensitive dialogue between light and matter.” In an interview below with Galerie, he shares even more.
How did you develop the narrative structure of Aurea as an architectural fiction shaped through a sequence of rooms? Where did that story begin for you?
The narrative of Aurea began with the idea of an imaginary hotel where each room becomes a chapter in a larger story. I imagined a journey rather than a static building, where the visitor moves from the luminous Winter Garden to the intimate Thousand Nights suite, experiencing spaces with their own light, textures, and atmosphere. The story started with movement and transformation, with the visitor becoming a traveler navigating dreamlike environments. Each transition is carefully orchestrated so that the architecture itself tells a story and the visitor participates fully in the unfolding journey.
You draw on references from Art Deco, surrealism, mythology, cinema. How do these influences translate into specific moments in the installation?
The references are integrated as layers rather than literal quotations. The Smoking Lounge evokes Art Deco through its elegant, intimate design, while the Midnight Bar channels cinematic atmospheres with soft, filtered light and theatrical staging. Mythological or surreal touches appear subtly in proportions, reflections, and details. Together, these elements create a coherent language where each space feels distinct but belongs to a continuous narrative journey.
Travel often informs your work. How have your own journeys shaped the imagined worlds within Aurea, particularly its shifting atmospheres from room to room?
Travel informs my understanding of rhythm, light, and materials. In “Aurea,” this is reflected in the transition between spaces: the Winter Garden captures the sense of Mediterranean gardens, the Smoking Lounge evokes intimate lounges discovered in historic hotels, and the Midnight Bar embodies a luxurious, cinematic atmosphere. Each room conveys a different emotional landscape, inspired by memories of places and experiences, creating a journey that is at once imaginary and sensorially real.
Salone can feel overwhelming in scale and pace. What kind of emotional or sensory state do you hope visitors carry with them as they move through Aurea?
I want “Aurea” to offer a moment of suspension and contemplation. Visitors should feel enveloped, with time slowed by light, textures, and carefully orchestrated atmospheres. From the scented Winter Garden to the soft shadows of the Smoking Lounge (Forbidden Oasis) and the intimacy of the Midnight Bar, the experience is designed to awaken the senses and leave an impression of serenity, poetry, and personal resonance.
How did you balance elements of theatricality with responsible material choices as the installation came together?
Theatricality is expressed through spatial choreography, light, and mood, while materials remain consciously chosen. In collaboration with Nagami Design, we used recycled and circular materials transformed by craft and technology into refined, luxurious elements. The drama of each space, whether the filtered golden light in the Thousand Nights suite or the intimate shadows in the Smoking Lounge, is achieved through subtle, sustainable choices. Luxury in Aurea is emotional, immersive, and conscious, where aesthetics and responsibility coexist harmoniously.
