Salone 2026: Maison Numéro 20 presents the installation Aurea, an Architectural Fiction

Aurea, an Architectural Fiction, at the heart of the “A Luxury Way” pathway in Pavilions 13-15 at the Salone del Mobile, is not a hotel in the strictest sense, but a total spatial experience and a reflection on design as a narrative form: a mise-en-scène of the imaginary, a choreography of rooms and corridors in which luxury is not ostentation, but evocation and interior décor becomes a story and scenography.

The project was conceived by Maison Numéro 20, an interior decoration and art direction studio founded in Paris by Oscar Lucien Ono. Here, Art Deco, surrealism, mythology, cinema d’auteur and orientalism intertwine in a language that combines excess and subtraction, matter and vision: contemporary expressions forge a free and open dialogue with classical references, giving life to a timeless language capable of combining heritage, innovation and emotion. 

Otherworldly architecture and interiors Aurea is an imaginary interpretation of a hotel: a spatial narrative in which each space offers itself as the projection of a dream, a scene suspended in time and space. The entire project is permeated by a search for balance and measured beauty. The name Aurea recalls the Latin term aureus – "golden", "brilliant", "precious" – and, equally, is a reference to the golden ratio, the mathematical concept that has always been seen as a symbol of harmony and visual completeness.

Oscar Lucien Ono had this to say: “This collaboration with the Salone del Mobile gives 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.” 

The project thus supersedes traditional function to propose a universal idea of space, inviting visitors to see themselves as travellers. The experience is structured into a series of theatrical spaces, evoking the spirit of the Salone as a place of discovery and wonder. Room by room, the experience becomes a journey through constantly changing and engaging atmospheres. Visitors move inside a form of suspended hospitality, in which every space is intimate and a product of the imagination. 

Luxury as an act of responsibility Aurea also represents a manifesto of sustainability, in which every element — from the materials to the fabrics, to the lights and the installations – has been chosen with circularity and environmental respect criteria in mind. In collaboration with partners such as Nagami Design, which transforms plastic recovered from the ocean into new generation furnishings, the concept of luxury is being rewritten: no longer consumption, but a conscious and responsible act.