Transforming an old cow shed and milk shop, abandoned since the 1970s, into a vibrant space of design and culture.

Welcome to Milk, Matera’s most distinctive design complex nestled in the heart of the UNESCO-listed Sassi district. With a private terrace blooming with indigenous plants and offering our signature, breathtaking views, Milk is a sanctuary of privacy and tranquility—two of today’s rarest luxuries.

Milk Matera joins the Area 8 family, a growing collection of unique properties across southern Italy, each set in meticulously restored heritage buildings that blend history, privacy, and contemporary luxury.

Work | Stay | Play

Untouched for over half a century, this block on via Casalnuovo formerly housed a cow shed, milk shop and farmers family home.

The Area 8 creative team has recently breathed new life into the complex, honoring its rural roots while infusing it with a bold spirit, creating a versatile, collecting community space for living, working and gathering. Whether for a creative retreat, digital nomad base, or private venue for dinners and next level events, Milk ticks all the boxes.

The building was formerly a farmhouse, featuring a loft-like open space with traditional exposed tufa stone ceilings.

The 100-square-meter open space showcases iconic mid-century furniture from Italy’s design history, highlighting the contrast between Matera’s peasant heritage and the industrial design revolution taking place simultaneously in northern Italy.
The fluid interiors, complete with a mezzanine loft, make the space highly flexible and ideal for team-building activities, co-working, as well as corporate and private events.
The space offers direct street-level access, two bathrooms, cooking facilities, and fiber-optic Wi-Fi.

Milk is a sanctuary of privacy and
tranquility—two of today’s rarest luxuries.

We have transformed what used to be an old tufa stone quarry into two suites with views of rare beauty over the wild Murgia nature reserve and Gravina river flowing below.
Honoring the immense effort and craftsmanship that went into carving each massive block of stone by hand we have left some of the walls in their original state and chose to decorate the suites with pieces from our trademark collection of original Italian mid century design pieces.
The old wooden beams stretching across the space evoke the spirit of Jannis Kounellis, creating a setting that feels both timeless and artistic.

Versatile open spaces with a metaphysical view.

Three terraces, totaling 300 square meters, offer uninterrupted views over the Murgia nature reserve and the gravina valley, with its river flowing below.
East facing terraces make them perfect to greet the sun with Yoga retreats, engage in power breakfasts, and enjoy our signature farm-to-table aperitifs at sunset when the terrace cools down.
All in absolute privacy and tranquility.
The terrace is ideal for small gatherings, parties and private dinners.

Matera Urban Creative Centre for the Arts.

MUCCA is a space where visual arts, photography and documentary practices coexist with conversations, research and cultural experimentation. It hosts workshops, clinics and masterclasses in visual storytelling, editing, design, architecture and art direction, while also functioning as a small Mediterranean think tank where writers, intellectuals and practitioners meet for book presentations, lectures and intimate symposia on art, cultural policy, identity, cities, landscape and the shifting geographies of the Mediterranean.
Alongside this, MUCCA cultivates forms of non-formal education, from study groups and collective readings to philosophy clubs and peer-to-peer learning. At times it becomes a micro-festival, bringing together photography, sound, short cinema, literature, independent publishing and cultural mapping; at others it operates as a micro-curatorial space for photography, illustration, graphic arts, design, artists’ publishing, contemporary crafts and archives.
The space also welcomes creative retreats and private sessions for concept development, design thinking and brand narratives, while maintaining an international outlook through collaborations with universities, foundations, foreign cultural institutes and festivals.

In the late 1960s, while Matera’s locals still enjoyed warm, unpasteurized milk straight from the cows next door, Northern Italy was buzzing with creative energy, producing some of the most iconic furniture and industrial design pieces Europe has ever seen.

Renowned companies like Cassina, Artemide, and Stilnovo were flourishing, collaborating with visionary designers such as Joe Colombo, Vico Magistretti, Osvaldo Borsani, Gae Aulenti, Vittorio Dassi, and Harvey Guzzini to craft bold, groundbreaking designs.
Milk is about embracing—and living—the
stark social and economic divide of that era.
We’ve chosen to furnish the space with a curated collection of Italy’s most significant vintage pieces, spanning minimalism to space-age aesthetics. Each piece is 100% original, lovingly restored to let you experience this fascinating contrast firsthand.

Matera’s creative legacy is a well-kept secret.
This small city, nestled on Italy’s “boot,” has drawn some
of the world’s most influential figures in art, photography, and architecture.

At Milk Matera, we’ve curated a collection of original prints, artworks, books,
and artifacts that celebrate Matera’s role in the creative world over the past 50 years.
Adriano Olivetti and Renzo Piano contributed visionary master plans here.
Magnum photographers Henri Cartier-Bresson and David Seymour immortalized its timeless landscapes,
Mario Cresci brought its graphic artistry to life,
while José Ortega—philosopher, writer, and student of Pablo Picasso—called it home for many years.

Private events, acoustic concerts, intimate dinners, a super pad for digital nomads, photoshoots, creative retreats — you name it.

Host your next pop up event at Milk, with 350 square meters of indoor space complemented by 300 square meters of stunning terraces, creating an adaptable and inspiring environment for work, relaxation, and play.

Stay, Work, Play

A rather metropolitan concept for such a small town like Matera, nestled more or less on the instep of the boot, but Mikaela Bandini is renowned for creating new concepts, importing ideas and branding just about anything.

First came the ground breaking Area 8 featured in the New York Times, Vogue China and the Guardian – to name but a few – then Palestra – a Shoreditch style event space in an old seventies gymnasium and now Milk.
working on Ray Oldenburg’s concept in order to create a familiar space where people regularly connect and share interests and activities in order to improve the quality of life necessary for wellbeing.