The interview: Emanuele Chicco Busnelli on Neutra’s rebirth and the art of crafting bespoke spaces

With its frescoed ceilings, eye-poppingly ornate mouldings, soaring, galleried ballroom and smouldering palette of 18th-century ostentation, Palazzo Visconti presents a lush grandeur that elegantly sets off the understated opulence of the newly launched furniture line by Neutra. With a reputation that dates back to the 1880s and a specialisation in sourcing and shaping exquisite marble, Neutra isn’t exactly a new kid on Milan’s design block. But the firm and its capabilities have been completely re-imagined by the new owner—Emanuele Chicco Busnelli.

“I bought Neutra in November 2022, and I immediately started thinking that it could be a very different company,” says Busnelli. “It’s taken me two and a half years—but this is the moment, today, it’s the moment that we are ready to approach the market.”

Neutra’s ‘Monochrome Affinity’ showcase at the Milan Design Week. Top: Marble bathtub by Monica Armani for Neutra.

With high Italian design running through his veins (his father Piero founded B&B Italia), Busnelli Junior saw in Neutra an opportunity to move beyond the typically scaled and often industrial manufacturing of modern designer furniture, and into the space of limited editions, custom sourcing, and bespoke creations.

“Every single piece of what we do is limited. The sofa, probably to 50 pieces. This bathtub, we’re going to make 20 pieces. That’s it. We don’t want to do massive productions—because we don’t want anyone to spend $30,000 or $40,000 to buy a sofa, only to go to a friend’s house and find pretty much the same thing. This is not going to happen with us,” says Busnelli. “We’re going to do unique pieces. We always try to find—and this is the part of my work that I love—we go and try to find the slab or the block of marble that is unique.”

Left: “Leaf” marble coffee table and “Sao Miguel” curved fabric sofa. Right: Glass amber vases.

The pieces on display comprise less of a collection or catalogue, and more of a launchpad, a statement of capability and intent, a showcase of materiality, craftsmanship—and desire. Businelli collaborated with leading designers, including Migliore+Servetto, Monica Armani and Stefano Gallizioli, to bring his vision to life, and every creation takes shape from an exquisite piece of stone—in many cases, such as the bathtub and washbasin, shown left, they’re hewn from a solid slab.

“We always start off with a designer by looking at the details—what can make the difference in a sofa, a bookshelf, or a lamp? It’s the details that make the difference. And we work together in bringing out ideas, testing them out, and then finding something that no-one else has,” says Businelli.

“Everything is connected with the colours, with the materials—and with the ambiance of the room that you want to create. So this floor lamp, in tobacco brown, is a solid piece, millions of years old. And these slabs of Calacatta Viola—it’s pretty unique to have so much purple on it. It’s a beautiful, beautiful piece. And that is what makes Neutra unique.”

Left: “Majesté” freestanding marble wash basin and oval marble mirror. Right: “Lente” glass table lamp.

For all the opulence of its materials, Neutra’s aesthetic is elegant, indulgent, and poised. It has presence, without pretensions. The unmistakeably lavish marble slabs are shapely and tapered, juxtaposed against metallic accents or perfectly matched leathers. And each room brings a new vision: from the deep crimson drama of the foyer, to the smouldering repose of the charcoal and tobacco lounge, to the verdant renewal of the bathroom, and on to the almost delectably rich creams and caramels of the bedroom suite.

“Everything is customised in terms of length, height, and of course, colour—we have the fabrics, the metals, and we’ll go and find the best marble that picks up the colours you love,” says Busnelli. “Neutra is about making your dream come true: the colours you like, the materials you like, and then we work with the best architects in the world to bring the best design—to create the room of your desire.

This is part of a series of interviews conducted at Salone del Mobile—go further with the 2025 edition of the Milan Design Week.

Read next:

• The interview: Edra’s Monica Mazzei on choosing comfort and character over design clichés
• The interview: Cassina’s Luca Fuso on timeless design and the revival of archival masterpieces