Located on the Amalfi Coast in Positano, Villa Treville was once the private home of Franco Zeffirelli and is today one of the world’s most discreet boutique hotels. Yahya was invited with carte blanche to design the lighting and selected artworks throughout the property, marking the first major artistic evolution since Zeffirelli’s own era.

Villa Treville is set into the cliffs of Positano on the Amalfi Coast and was formerly the private home of Franco Zeffirelli. Following its acquisition and transformation into a boutique hotel, Yahya was invited to design the lighting and selected artworks throughout the property. The commission was granted with complete freedom and represented the first major artistic intervention since Zeffirelli himself had shaped the villa, establishing a new phase in its history while respecting its cultural and architectural legacy.

The intervention focused on the careful orchestration of light across the estate, using discreet yet expressive elements to redefine how spaces are experienced. One of the most emblematic sequences occurs in the tunnel leading from the reception toward the heart of the hotel, where a rhythm of bronze globes and wall torches creates a gradual progression of light and shadow. This passage has become a defining moment of arrival, introducing guests to the villa through a measured, immersive transition rather than a single gesture.

The lighting intervention extends across key areas of the property, including the Maestro Terrace and the Bianca Bar, and has since been documented in a luxurious coffee-table book dedicated to Villa Treville. Within this publication, a specific chapter is devoted to Yahya’s intervention, examining the role of lighting and scenography in the transformation of the villa. The text describes a mastery of stagecraft worthy of Zeffirelli himself and recognises the work as initiating a new artistic chapter for the property, widely regarded as the most significant evolution of the villa since its original conception.