Coloured skin

Michael Young, Medical clinic and aesthetic center

Abstract

Strolling within Florence’s medieval walls, around the Ponte Vecchio, we come across an example of a highly effective relationship between the past and present. Along a narrow street by the Arno, flanked by 14th-century palazzi, inside a tall stone building, we find SKIN, a new aesthetic medical center designed by Michael Young (architectural design) and Katrin Olina (graphic design). The past and present intermingle in a powerful, uninhibited relationship. In a city full of charm, yet often hostile to innovative styles, a historic palazzo dialogues with an interior whose features are markedly contemporary. The clinic’s name SKIN hints at the metaphor guiding this bold juxtaposition. The skin of the interior gently seduces that of the exterior, drawing it in with sensuality and breathing fresh life into the 14th-century architectural context.