All photos and images are by Isola Design Festival 2026, unless stated.
Design. Isola Design Festival, the last one as we know it so far, according to the organisers, is set to descend on Milan Design Week from 20–26 April under the theme TEN: The Evolving Now. Organised by the Milan- and Dubai-based Isola Design Group, it will feature over 200 designers and brands, and 30 exhibitions, beneath the famed Bosco Verticale skyscraper. Archipanic is a media partner of the creative platform. We’ve picked twelve must-visit installations and showcases to guide you through.
- RELATED STORIES: Read more about Milan Design Week 2026 on Archipanic.
Ether by Clara Molina – ©Clara Molina.
“What started as something small became a real international community, far beyond what we imagined,” reflects Gabriele Cavallaro, founder of Isola Design Group. “But at some point, you feel it. Things need to change to stay relevant, to stay alive. So this will be the last time of our festival at Milan Design Week in this format. We are organically shaping an ecosystem of organisations that together will redefine how design events and activations work, for both independent practices and established companies.”
Enclave by Cezar Moldovan x Arbore – ©Claudiu Ardelean.
From here, Isola artistic director Elif Resitoglou curated new editions of the platform’s most successful formats and exhibitions — not only in Milan, but also at Dutch Design Week, London Design Festival, and Dubai Design Week, where the platform built a reputation in the past ten years. Far more than a retrospective, Isola Design Festival 2026 is a launching pad for what lies ahead.
Fabbrica Sassetti
Via Filippo Sassetti 31, [Map].
Le Labo 1.0 by Baguette Studio – ©Guillaume Perretti Gaud.
Begin your journey at Fabbrica Sassetti — a former yarn factory reborn as a vibrant exhibition space. At the Isola Design Gallery exhibition, the focus is on craftsmanship, process and material sensitivity. Baguette Studio borrows techniques from the plastics industry to fashion pieces from natural wax, whilst Cezar Moldovan and Romanian brand Arbore translate architectural thinking into domestic objects with quiet precision.
Structures by Augustin Mosca with Trama Raiz – ©Sebastian Aparicio.
The No Space for Waste showcase makes the case for designing with what already exists. Re-Edit digs into upcycling, bio-reengineering and wood crafting, while Lima-based Augustin Mosca weaves rush and plant fibres into lamps that reveal nature’s hidden beauty. A timely reminder that the most interesting materials are often the ones we overlook. Developed with the support of .mdd.
Canasta bar cabinet by Arunika Sarkar – ©Lokesh Dang.
The spirit of craft continues with Rasa — The Indian Collective, curated by Nidhi Chandak and Varun E S of Isola’s India-based studio team. Celebrating rich making traditions reinterpreted through a contemporary lens, a particular highlight is Canasta by Arunika Sarkar — a playful postmodern cabinet inspired by a card game that, fittingly, enjoys considerable popularity in Milan itself.
Burgeoning Symbiosis by Oscar Greve – ©Manon Roggeman.
The Dutch Atelier presents a curated selection of designers from the Isola Design Community based in the Netherlands. Expect playfulness, bold colour, experimentation and conceptual clarity. One example? Inspired by spring’s bloom, the Burgeoning Symbiosis by Oscar Greve blends new manufacturing technologies with age-old artistic traditions.
COPERNICO ISOLA FOR S32
Via Filippo Sassetti 32 [Map].
GROWinK by Punxh Peerasin – ©Pascal Schonlau.
After Fabbrica Sassetti, just cross the street for the Isola Design Awards exhibition. Here, the ten winners of the 2026 competition showcase their projects. Among them is material designer Punxh Peerasin from London. His GROWinK project offers an alternative to toxic ink by harnessing biodegradable pigments from fungi and bacteria. Karen Sasson from Tel Aviv, Israel, presents a table lamp that uses a hydraulic piston to move and position the light in space.
ATELIER KONDAKJI
Via Vincenzo Civerchio 2 [Map].
The Dwellers by Fenna Kosfeld – ©Fenna Kosfeld.
From there, head to ATELIER KONDAKJI, where the Shape of Belonging exhibition examines the quiet ties between identity, ancestry, craft and memory. Light designers will be drawn to Fenna Kosfeld‘s wonky, fragile lighting, with its delicate equilibrium and spidery fragility. Clara Molina crafts cloud-like lamps where paper, time and light converge with gentle poetry.
STECCA3.0
Via Gaetano de Castilla 26 [Map].
Kastamonu Italia at Isola Design Festival 2026 – Courtesy of Materially.
At The New State of Materials exhibition, Isola Design Group and Materially put next-generation materials on display — bio-based, circular, low-carbon. Also on display is a large-scale, textile installation by La Tête Dans Les Nuages with Amy Tidmarsh, which transforms upcycled hot-air balloon fabrics into monumental sails suspended on modular structures.
FONDAZIONE CATELLA
Via Gaetano de Castilla 28 [Map].
Bolt table – Photo by .mdd.
At the FONDAZIONE CATELLA, the Default Is Not Universal exhibition showcases works by designers from Saudi Arabia and the Middle East and North Africa, in collaboration with Ithra – King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture. Here and at Stecca3, Polish office and contract furniture company .mdd, presents a selection of pieces within dedicated lounge areas.
ZONAK
Via Spalato 11 [Map].
Volvi by Chris Zhou – ©Chris Zhou.
At ZONAK, the Archivi Futuri showcase imagines objects beyond 2050, exploring new ways to archive emotions and cultural production. The third edition of Rising Talents spotlights emerging designers worldwide. Highlights include Chris Zhou‘s Volvi robot and AI agent for public speaking, and emerging talent Ilaria Critelli‘s Detto Sfatto, a witty set of 3D-printed tableware inspired by Italian sayings about broken romances.
Across the district
Corpo by Northernlightcomposites and Scandurra Studio – Courtesy of DesignTech.
Isola Design Festival 2026 also teams up with Designtech on the Urban Collective Project, scattering installations across the neighbourhood. Corpo by Northernlightcomposites and Scandurra Studio is an urban structure designed to bring people together, fabricated from RComposit — a fully recyclable laminate used in the nautical and medical sectors [Via Francesco Restelli 2, Map].
Light Our Fire by Studio Azzurro x INTERNI – Image by Studio Azzurro.
Just outside, at the façade of Urban Up | Unipol – De Castillia 23 [Map], Light Our Fire offers one of the most quietly arresting moments of Isola Design Festival 2026. Part of INTERNI MATERIAE by INTERNI, Studio Azzurro turns the building’s exterior into a breathing, luminous organism — a meditation on energy, responsibility and our uneasy relationship with the planet. Earth and fire take centre stage, channelling the myth of Prometheus into a visual journey.
To round off your visit to Isola Design Festival 2026, the exhibition From Matter to Meaning at Brussels House [Via Gaetano de Castillia 23, Map] unfolds across a three-act narrative — from raw substance to human transformation, and finally to fulfilled, sustainable meaning — with a dozen selected pieces shining a light on innovative Belgian design.
The Poison Garden by THEFORMA – Courtesy of Teo Sandigliano.
The Collectors Room offers something altogether more intimate. Produced by WHO Design Studio and co-curated with Teo Sandigliano, the experience unfolds within a fictional domestic interior set up by FOS, From Outer Space, where objects become artefacts of a life lived — quietly telling stories of memory, travel and personal taste. Projects by THEFORMA, Matteo Di Ciommo, House of Thol, Studio Douze Degrès, and more [Via Confalonieri 11, Map].
Lamina Lights by Transatural – Image by Tijs Gilde.
David Heldt of SOLIDIFIED and Sanne Kaal of FINISHED FORMS join forces for the SOLIDIFIED collective exhibition exploring coherence through material, form and composition. The project examines how distinct objects, materials and ideas can coexist within a shared universe, where contrast and individuality generate new forms of unity. Projects by Lucas Zito, Transnatural, Nicolette De Waart, and more. [Via Carlo Farini 35, Map].
All photos are courtesy of Isola Design Festival 2026, unless stated otherwise.
Hydraulic Piston Desk Lamp by Karen Sesson – © Karen Sesson.
