ARTÈ, Aurora's restaurant, retains its 1980s bones: a stepped white bas-relief carpentry runs the length of the rear wall above a pale banquette, while rust velvet chairs, burl-topped tables and a glossy timber-strip ceiling gather beneath brass-framed mirrors.

Aurora Hotel, Merano: Hannes Peer Layers Cinematic Modernism Into Six Decades of Family History

Words by Yatzer

Merano, South Tyrol, Italy

Renovations that negotiate between past and present are often the most compelling, especially when they engage heritage with enough confidence to search beyond the obvious for inspiration. That was the case at Aurora Hotel in Merano, where we travelled shortly before its reopening to see the completed first phase of its transformation. Among the first to experience the new spaces, we met third-generation owners Melanie and Philipp Aukenthaler and Milan-based architect Hannes Peer, hearing first-hand how family history, local craftsmanship and cosmopolitan references, from California to Brazil, were brought into conversation.

Melanie and Philipp Aukenthaler with Hannes Peer in Aurora's lounge, gathered around the bespoke faceted seating and purple pile carpet. Behind them, a glazed ochre tiled wall meets a raking plaster plane and the polished timber-strip ceiling.

Left to right: Melanie Aukenthaler, Hannes Peer and Philipp Aukenthaler. Photography by Giulio Ghirardi.

The reception desk crafted by Rier curves in fluted timber past Horizon, Ursula Huber's gridded concrete bas-relief, its incised lines reading as an abstract landscape. Above, the amber and clear Murano-glass installation by 6:AM steps outward in a bright cantilever.

Reception lobby featuring Murano glass light installation by 6:AM and concrete bas-relief by Ursula Huber. Photography by Giulio Ghirardi.

Aurora has been run by the Aukenthaler family since 1964, although the oldest part of the property dates to 1876. Melanie remembers visiting every day as a child: “We didn’t live here… but every day at lunchtime we came here and ate with everyone. It was full of people, movement, always something happening.” That atmosphere was shaped by their grandmother, who established the hotel and introduced en suite bathrooms to every room, an audacious decision at the time, and later by their mother, who remains “first in the morning, last in the evening”. Both parents still work full-time at Aurora; with Melanie and Philipp now equally involved, it is a bona fide family affair.

The siblings’ first independent contribution came in 2006 with Sketch Club, the cocktail bar and nightclub they ran downstairs until the pandemic. Its mix of international DJs and creative programming laid the groundwork for Aurora’s cultural direction. Their choice of Peer was similarly intuitive. After an inconclusive competition involving five architects, they invited him to visit. “He walked in and said: wow,” they recall. “He didn’t say, let’s remove everything; he said, this is fantastic, we keep this.” Peer remembers the same connection: his approach was “rooted in the elements we found on site”, adding new layers rather than erasing what was already there.

Looking through Aurora Hotel's reception towards the street: the amber Murano-glass ceiling installation by 6:AM hovers above the fluted desk, flagstone flooring in mottled local stone runs to the glazed entrance, and Ursula Huber's concrete relief textures the right-hand wall.

Photography by Giulio Ghirardi.

The entrance to Hotel Aurora in Merano: brass lettering sits above a scalloped canopy soffit, while the ceramic work made with Officine Saffi covers the right-hand wall in glazed tiles of blue, ochre, teal and oxblood. Bird-of-paradise planting anchors the threshold.

The new entranc of Aurora Hotel featuring a ceramic mural by Officine Saffi. Photography by Giulio Ghirardi.

  • Seen across the Passer river, Aurora Hotel's angular new crown reads as a bright horizontal band above the tree line, its fin-clad volume tapering to a sharp point at one end. Milky glacial water runs over pale boulders in the foreground, framed by willow and chestnut.

    Photography by Tschinkersten.

  • Two bridges cross Merano's Passer river in Elisabeth Oberrauch's watercolour, their railings drawn in fine dark strokes over the pale ribbon of water. Dense green foliage fills most of the sheet, a yellow ochre building with a plum-coloured roof anchoring the upper left.

    A view from room 305 at Aurora Hotel. Watercolour on paper by Elisabeth Oberrauch.

  • Aurora Hotel's white aluminium fins peel away from the retained façade of its 19th century building in a raking curve, seen in close profile against the balconied flanks of the hotel's 1960s building. Terracotta roofs and a vine-terraced hillside sit behind, the new metalwork slicing between old and older.

    Photography by Tschinkersten.

A watercolour of Merano's rooftops with the verdigris equestrian bronze in the middle distance, a bird perched nearby. Elisabeth Oberrauch flattens the terracotta pitches into planes of rust and salmon, the green figure the single cool note among them.

A view from room 309 at Aurora Hotel. © Elisabeth Oberrauch

At street level, Aurora Hotel's new upper volume cantilevers over the retained 19th-century façade, its white fins fanning outward like a splayed comb. The composition sets contemporary metalwork against the neighbouring Teatro Puccini's ornamented plasterwork and rooftop equestrian bronze.

Photography by Tschinkersten.

A guestroom seating area: a mustard velvet sofa and matching pouf sit on textured carpet beside a polished steel and glass side table. A sculptural timber wall relief hangs above; through slatted blinds, Merano's terracotta roofs give way to vine-terraced slopes.

Photography by Giulio Ghirardi.

The exterior intervention concerns Aurora’s 19th-century building, which adjoins a larger 1960s structure. Its former hipped roof has been replaced by two new storeys containing 18 guestrooms, their angular volume reimagining the traditional roof as a contemporary crown. Designed by feld72, the addition is wrapped in aluminium fins of varying depth and width, appearing alternately opaque and porous as the viewpoint shifts. As Melanie and Philipp put it, “The idea was never to copy the past. Something new that reflects the present, and eventually becomes history itself.”

The same thinking carries into the 18 new guestrooms, which draw on Palm Springs modernism and Alpine rationalism, balancing sculptural low beds, dark walnut, leather and rust-coloured velvet with local stone and filtered mountain light. Pagoda-like ceilings add restrained theatricality, while open bathrooms blur the boundaries between bathing, sleeping and landscape. A second phase, scheduled for completion in 2028, will extend the same treatment to 41 further guestrooms and suites, and add a rooftop pool.

A guestroom at Aurora: a coffered timber relief of bevelled squares hangs above a rust velvet sofa, flanked by a glazed ceramic lamp on a walnut ledge. The low bed sits in the foreground, the plastered walls and slatted ceiling keeping the palette restrained.

Photography by Giulio Ghirardi.

A guest bathroom carved in dark stone: a monolithic vanity with inset basin and chrome cross-handle tap runs beneath a full-height mirror, doubling the timber ceiling and a coffered wooden relief. Slatted blinds rake soft light across the surfaces.

Photography by Giulio Ghirardi.

A stair at Aurora Hotel descends between walls of burnished bronze-toned metal, lit by a single recessed strip that grazes the surfaces into shifting warmth. At the foot, a pale stone landing and dark walnut handrail break the enveloping darkness.

Photography by Tschinkersten.

A guest corridor at Aurora runs in polished dark timber, punctuated by amber Murano-glass sconces and brass room numerals. Underfoot, a graphic carpet of ochre and pale blue bars draws the eye down the length of the passage into shadow.

Photography by Giulio Ghirardi.

For the public spaces occupying the 1960s building, Peer adopted a bolder register beginning with an entrance that dispels any expectation of Alpine conventionality. “For me, Merano has always been the most exotic town in South Tyrol,” Peer explains, pointing to its palms, monsteras and lush vegetation. A richly coloured ceramic mural composed of over 2,000 handmade tiles produced with Officine Saffi frames the entrance, while flagstone flooring made from a variety of local stones continues indoors. Above the lobby, a bespoke Murano-glass light installation by 6:AM glows in amber and clear tones; below it, the curved, mahogany-toned reception desk, Peer's "pièce de résistance", , crafted by Rier, introduces the mid-century-inflected polished glamour running through the project, while Horizon, a monumental concrete bas-relief by Ursula Huber, Peer’s mother, reads as an abstract landscape, adding a rough-hewn, Brutalist counterpoint.

  • Horizon, Ursula Huber's concrete bas-relief, fills a wall in gridded panels of gouged and pitted sand-toned relief, split by a slender brass line. Next to it, a mirror reflect Aurora Hotel's reception desk and amber glass ceiling glow in soft focus, brutalist texture set against burnished warmth.

    Horizon concrete bas-relief by Ursula Huber crafted for Aurora Hotel's new reception lobby. Photography by Giulio Ghirardi.

  • A detail behind Aurora Hotel's reception: walnut panelling meets a wedge-shaped mirrored aperture that catches the amber glass overhead, while a rattan and brass dome lamp stands on the desk's glossy oxblood top above its fluted mahogany-toned understructure.

    Photography by Giulio Ghirardi.

  • Framed by a mirror-lined threshold, Aurora Hotel's reception opens beyond in amber light: a suspended Murano-glass installation by 6:AM glows overhead, the curved fluted reception desk crafted by Rier anchors the left, and Ursula Huber's concrete bas-relief Horizon runs along the right wall.

    Photography by Tschinkersten.

Aurora Hotel's reception seen close: a rattan and brass table lamp rests on the desk's glossy oxblood top, its brass edge curving past a raised circular planter of monstera and calathea. Overhead, the sculptural ceiling of overlapping pale forms tapers into a curved plastered wall.

Photography by Giulio Ghirardi.

Looking from Aurora Hotel's reception towards the lounge: stone steps rise between a planted bed and a plastered wall, past the brass-trimmed desk, to a walnut banquette running beneath timber blinds. A rust-toned rug and banked greenery warm the sequence.

Photography by Giulio Ghirardi.

Aurora Hotel's reception reads as a layered sequence: the amber Murano-glass installation by 6:AM overhead, the fluted reception desk with its glossy red top and brass edge, and a ceiling of pale bulbous forms leading towards the lounge. Flagstone flooring in warm local stone runs throughout, tropical planting banked to the right.

Photography by Tschinkersten.

In Aurora Hotel's lounge, a built-in tan leather banquette wraps a corner beneath timber blinds that slice daylight into horizontal bands. A slatted walnut ceiling, brass-edged low table holding coloured glass vessels, and a mirrored column extending the space recall 1970s Californian ease.

Aurora Hotel's new lounge. Photography by Giulio Ghirardi.

Beyond the reception, the lounge takes a more cinematic turn. “Welcome to the Goldstein House, more or less,” Peer jokes, acknowledging the influence of John Lautner’s Sheats– Goldstein Residence. This influence is most boldly channelled in the bespoke sofas and benches that dominate the space, their polygonal volumes forming sharply faceted compositions, softened by tan leather cushions. Timber blinds filter views of the promenade into something resembling a film set, tropical planting adds depth, and a plush carpet adds sensuous purple hues. “I wanted the lounge to feel luxurious, almost cinematic, like a scene from a film,” Peer explains.

The adjoining Listening Bar intensifies the mood through Pompeian red, smoked mirrors, deep-pile carpeting and dark walnut joinery concealing a high-fidelity sound system. Reserved for hotel guests and Aurora members, it hosts DJ sets, live performances and monthly Music & Talk evenings curated by Walter Garber.

A detail of the bespoke lounge seating: sharply faceted pale plaster volumes interlock at angles, their planes carrying tan leather cushions. Deep purple pile carpet absorbs the light around them, the composition owing its geometry to John Lautner's Sheats–Goldstein Residence.

Bespoke sofa at Aurora Hotel's new lounge inspired by John Lautner’s Sheats– Goldstein Residence. Photography by Giulio Ghirardi.

Aurora Hotel's lounge in full: bespoke faceted seating in pale plaster and tan leather sits on deep purple pile, beneath a glossy timber-strip ceiling. A brass cube table anchors the centre while mirrored planes fold the room back on itself, an amber glass fixture glowing beyond.

Bespoke sofas at Aurora Hotel's new lounge inspired by John Lautner’s Sheats– Goldstein Residence. Photography by Giulio Ghirardi.

The Listening Bar's walnut shelving holds records and art books beside a black marble counter and a mirror-clad DJ table. Lacquered red surfaces meet cream shag carpet, curved velvet seating and leather chairs, the palette shifting from glossy to plush.

Listening Bar. Photography by Giulio Ghirardi.

A quiet corner of the Listening Bar: a dark textured relief hangs on a lacquered red wall above a curved tan velvet banquette, a round timber table with radial veining set before it. Slatted blinds admit thin blades of light.

Listening Bar. Photography by Giulio Ghirardi.

Aurora Hotel's Listening Bar turns nocturnal: diamond-shaped brass sconces glow against pale wood panels, a curved tan velvet banquette sweeps around a shaggy carpet, and a lacquered Pompeian red ceiling and wall carry a dark textured relief. Timber blinds slice the daylight.

Listening Bar. Photography by Giulio Ghirardi.

Unlike the lobby and lounge, where almost everything was designed from scratch, the renovation of ARTÈ, Aurora's restaurant, became an act of architectural archaeology. Around 70 to 80 per cent of the glossy timber-strip ceiling is original, carefully restored and patched with brass where sections were missing. The bar counter, room dividers and integrated planters were likewise retained, while new mirrors and lighting draw daylight deeper into what was once a considerably darker interior. Particularly striking are the low partitions in Bianco Lasa, the locally quarried white marble chosen by Melanie and Philipp’s mother for the original 1970s scheme. “You have to remember that using marble in South Tyrol in the ’70s was considered almost too flashy,” Peer says, especially considering that Bianco Lasa is “one of the whitest marbles in the world, whiter even than the Bianco Statuario Michelangelo worked with.”

The restaurant’s defining feature, however, is the stepped, geometric bas-relief unfolding across the rear wall, created in the 1980s by local carpenter Herbert Kinkelin. “I’m not sure what kind of carpenter brings in references to Willy Rizzo and Romeo Rega, but he clearly did,” Peer remarks. “I’m convinced he must have pored over design magazines, because otherwise I don’t know how he arrived at something this good.” Far from treating the work as a relic, Peer used it as a creative compass: “That piece is what gave us the direction for the rest of the building.”

A close reading of ARTÈ restaurant's material language: burl walnut tabletops inset with dark squares, a stepped brass lamp base rising from a pale marble ledge, chrome-framed chairs in rust velvet and tan leather banquettes, all held in warm reflected light.

ARTÈ restaurant. Photography by Giulio Ghirardi.

ARTÈ, Aurora's restaurant, retains its 1980s bones: a stepped white bas-relief carpentry runs the length of the rear wall above a pale banquette, while rust velvet chairs, burl-topped tables and a glossy timber-strip ceiling gather beneath brass-framed mirrors.

ARTÈ restaurant featuring wooden bas-relief crafted in the 1980s by local carpenter Herbert Kinkelin. Photography by Giulio Ghirardi.

This continuity between design and culture also animates Carte Blanche, the hotel’s contemporary-art platform. Conceived during Covid, when the family found themselves sitting in an empty hotel, it began online to support young local artists. Under curator Eva von Ingram Harpf, it has evolved into exhibitions and gatherings in which artists may install work anywhere in Aurora. Rather than conventional openings, events unfold over dinner and small-group conversations, allowing guests, collectors and locals to engage directly with the artists.

To mark the renovation and the 18 new guestrooms, Melanie and Philipp commissioned artist Elisabeth Oberrauch, their aunt, to create a bespoke watercolour postcard for each room. Oberrauch sat in every one, painting its particular outlook, towards the river on one side, or the historic, turn-of-the-century Teatro Puccini and Teatro piazza on the other, and the finished card now awaits guests on their pillow. It is a small gesture, but one that distils Aurora’s transformation: personal, site-specific and resistant to formula.

  • From inside one of the 18 new guestrooms, angled glazing and slender white balustrades frame a view over terracotta rooftops to the vineyards above Merano. A tan leather chair and low bed edge into the foreground, their warmth set against the crisp white structure.

    Photography by Tschinkersten.

  • The verdigris statue leans out of Elisabeth Oberrauch's composition with one arm raised, painted in vivid greens against a façade rendered in the palest ochre. Below, small figures and dogs cross the pavement in quick, unlaboured marks.

    A view from room 308 at Aurora Hotel. Watercolour on paper by Elisabeth Oberrauch.

Elisabeth Oberrauch paints a Merano street from above: a broad pine canopy spreads over pastel façades while a crowd of small figures streams along the pavement in blue, red and green. Bare paper carries the light between quick, translucent strokes.

A view from room 207 at Aurora Hotel. © Elisabeth Oberrauch

A watercolour by Elizabeth Oberrauch looking down onto Merano's promenade: figures pass along a green cast-iron railing, a dog walker crosses the pavement above, and a lamp post rises through the composition. Loose washes of jade, ochre and terracotta leave the paper breathing.

A view from room 304 at Aurora Hotel. © Elisabeth Oberrauch

The angular crown of Aurora Hotel meets Merano's older roofscape: a slate spire and terracotta tiles below, aluminium fins above, a vine-terraced hillside dissolving into mist beyond. The addition reinterprets the traditional pitched roof as a faceted contemporary silhouette.

Photography by Tschinkersten.

Aurora Hotel's aluminium-finned addition takes its place in Merano's riverside skyline, slotted between a Belle Époque villa and post-war apartment blocks. On the near bank, terraced lawns draw people to sit and linger at dusk, the Texel mountains rising behind the promenade.

Photography by Tschinkersten.