Ventura Projects ends operations due to Corona virus

Ventura Projects ends operation – Photos: courtesy of Ventura Projects.

Milan 2020 – Just few weeks before it was due to take place, Milan Design Week – the world’s leading design event – was first postponed to June and then canceled alltogether. This situation “have had a massive and irreversible impact on the company,” Says Margriet Vollenberg, founder and art director of Ventura Projects.

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Photo by Davide Grassi.

“I spent many sleepless nights worrying about whether and how I could save or transform my company to adjust to a new normal to still be able to serve the design world and enable the talent as we have always done. It is therefore with great pain in my heart that I came to the conclusion that it is no longer feasible to build my dream, and therefore the dreams of many designers and design studios. The current circumstances leave me no other choice but to end Ventura Projects,” says Margriet Vollenberg.

ARIA ComeToLight installation 2019- Courtesy of Ventura Projects

ARIA ComeToLight installation 2019 – Photo by Davide Grassi.

Based in Utrecht in the Netherlands and Milan. Ventura Project has recently organised the Ventura Centrale and Ventura Future group exhibitions during the Italian city’s design week. Previously, the platform has also launched the Lambrate neighbourhood as a global design district.

Ventura Lambrate 2013.

For twenty-one years Vollenberg took a role as an organiser, coordinator, and matchmaker during Milan Design Week and over the past eleven years, as art director of Ventura Projects, she focused on giving a forum for international creatives launching their projects.

AGC's sound generating glass @ Soundscape installation in Milan - Photo by Akihide Mishima, courtesy of Asahi Glass Company.

AGC’s sound generating glass @ Soundscape installation in Milan – All photos by

Italian designer Luca Nichetto who took part took part in the first edition of Ventura Centrale shares: “I can only thank Ventura Projects, for all it has done for our community. But above all I would like to thank them for giving me a great opportunity for professional growth.”

The Diner – Photo by Michele de Candia courtesy of Surface Magazine.

International designer Maarten Baas said: “From scratch, Ventura Projects created something unique and was able to renew and expand their concept during the years. Many designers, including myself, have been given and seized opportunities to show themselves through Ventura Projects.”

GLOW-GROW installation by TAKT Project – Photo by Takumi Ota.

Satoshi Yoshiizumi of Japanese design collective TAKT PROJECT says: “Our solo exhibition at Ventura Centrale last year was particularly memorable. I think it was one of the best opportunities of Milan Design Week, a very important place for an independent design studio like us, and a point of contact between visitors from all over the world, especially for works that are experimental and open to the future of design.”

The Carousel by Lee Broom @ Ventura Centrale 2017 – Photo: courtesy of Lee Broom.

On 29 April Ventura Projects went virtual on Dezeen’s Virtual Design Festival to present the work of over 80 international designers, schools and brands which were supposed to be in Milan with us this year.

TELL ME MORE by Rapt Studio at Milan Design Week 2019 - Photo by Erik Laignel

TELL ME MORE by Rapt Studio at Ventura Centrale 2019 – Photo by Erik Laignel.

“For now, I look back with tremendous pride and gratitude on what my team and I have been able to accomplish in the international design world. With more than 7000 exhibitors, we have presented countless ground-breaking and incredible solutions to the world.”