Though he was one of Italy’s most influential mid-20th-century architects and interior designers, very little is known about the inner world of Turinese legend Carlo Mollino.

Born in 1905 in the northern Italian city of Turin, Mollino became a figure of fascination for design enthusiasts worldwide, many of whom were transfixed by his hidden private life and ability to create dreamy, sensuous spaces inspired by his various obsessions—which ranged from the voluptuousness of the female form to symbols and talismans of witchcraft and the occult.