Milano Design Week 2023. ‘Everything’ installation by Nohlab @ MEET, Porta Venezia Design District – Photo Courtesy of PVDD.
Design – Milan Design Week 2023 is massive and finally in full mode. The world’s most important design event of the year kicks off on April 17. We look forward to discovering innovative and out-of-the-box designs at the Salone del Mobile main fair and Fuorisalone, the diffuse design festival taking over the Italian city with hundreds of exhibitions, events, and installations. These are the 20 must-see destinations, creative districts, and group exhibitions. See you in Milano!
- RELATED STORIES: Read more about Milan Design Week 2022 on Archipanic.
Salone del Mobile.Milano
April 18-23, Metro station Rho Fiera Milano. Buy tickets.
Photo by Alessandro Russotti.
With 1.962 exhibitors, 550 emerging designers, and 20 pavilions, the 61st edition of Salone del Mobile is back to pre-Covid size and figures but with several significant changes. The new single-level exhibition format simplifies, improves, and enhances accessibility, as well as the visitor’s experience. Lombardini 22 has reimagined and reorganized Euroluce, the biennial exhibition dedicated to lighting design, as a city where stands alternate with squares, arenas, exhibitions, libraries, monuments, and installations – some designed or curated by Formafantasma. High-end and luxury design goes on show at the XLUX Pavilion, while the Workplace 3.0 exhibition is dedicated to office furniture. Read more…
Triennale di Milano
April 15-23, Via Alemagna 6. Free access, [Map].
Angelo Mangiarotti exhibition @ Triennale di Milano – Photo by Melania Dalle Grave, DSL Studio.
La Triennale di Milano design museum turns 100 and celebrates its first-century anniversary with the Italian Design Museum, curated by Marco Sammicheli. Maria Cristina Didero and Richard Hutten co-curate the exhibition Droog30 – Design or non design? dedicated to the rebel and irreverent 1990s design avant-garde Droog, that turns 30 this year. Make sure to visit the Fulvio Irace-curated exhibition dedicated to the work and genius of Italian architect Angelo Mangiarotti. Marco Sammicheli also reflects on the relationships between text and images in design with the Text exhibition. The Moravská galerie in Brno, Czech Republic, celebrates the strength and fragility of crystal and porcelain with the Made by Fire exhibition. Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation brings an exhibition unveiling the country’s unexpected design scene to Milan.
Rossana Orlandi
April 17-23, Via Matteo Bandello 14 and 16, [Map].
Entrance of RO Rossana Orlandi Gallery – Photo via IG, follo @sabrinelj.
Milan Design Week’s godmother Rossana Orlandi opens her gallery’s doors to present the work of some of the most promising upcoming talents and established designers from around the world. This year’s lineup includes Draga and Aurel, Alvaro Catalán De Ocón, Mandalaki, Elisa Ossino, Piet Hejn Eek, Stefan Scholten, and more. Also on show is the fifth edition of the RoGUILTLESSPLASTIC international project and award featuring projects raising awareness of the importance of recycling, reusing, and upcycling materials.
Brera Design District
Multiple locations, Metro stations. Brera, Cairoli and Moscova, [Map].
Brera Design Week 2023, illustration by Mirko Càmia.
Milan’s Brera is the world’s district with the highest concentration of design per square kilometer. Brera Design District explodes with showroom exhibitions, installations, and temporary showcases in April. The Ingo Maurer brand returns to Milan after the famed designer and poet of light passed away in 2019. Solid Nature presents Sabine Marcelis and Bita Fayyazi‘s new collections within an installation by OMA, Carlo Ratti Associati with Italo Rota take over the Orto Botanico with an installation for ENI, while Elena Salmistraro presents a new project for Lanerossi.
We look forward to exploring Stark’s immersive and multimedia installation at Milan’s Aquarium and the pop-up exhibition of the students of ECAL University. Among the must-visit showroom, make sure to visit Valcucine, Mutina, Iris Ceramica, Manerba, Molteni & C, Agape, Casa Lago, and Loro Piana Interiors.
5Vie
April 18-23. Multiple locations, [Map].
Human Mandala by Sara Ricciardi @ 5Vie 2023 – Courtesy of 5Vie.
Archipanic is a Media Partner of 5Vie, the curatorial design district in the very heart of Milan that celebrates its ten’s anniversary with the Design for Good overarching theme. The district and platform commissioned site-specific exhibitions and installations. Sara Ricciardi celebrates humans’ interconnectedness with a holistic Human Mandala installation. Virtual Reality and design interplay in Richard Yasmine’s Silent Hollows tribute to Mother Nature. Among other must-visit exhibitions is Constance Guisset’s solo showcase by the Institut Français of Milan. Israeli designer Roham Shamekh presents a new collection in the evocative setting of a hidden courtyard inspired by the solar system with paintings of small spherical objects.
Alcova
Ex-Macello di Porta Vittoria, Viale Molise 61, [Map].
Alcova 2023 – Photo by Federico Floriani.
Known for activating unexpected locations never before accessible to the public, Alcova brings back to life the vast and monumental spaces of the Ex-Macello di Porta Vittoria with over 70 projects, each exploring a different and complementary direction of contemporary design practice, with a particular focus on materials experimentation. Materica, an Italian company specializing in surface metallizations, presents a mesmerising and immersive kaleidoscopic installation. Atelier LUMA – LUMA Arles, coordinated by Jan Boelen, invites visitors to engage in an immersive and scenographic journey into the world of matter. Mexican design studio David Pompa experiments with volcanic rock.
INTERNI at Statale University
Ca’ Granda, Via Festa del Perdono 7, [Map].
Interni Magazine at Universita Statale di Milano – Photo by Bruno Cordioli, 2010.
Influential architecture and design magazine INTERNI has invited international architects to create installations and exhibitions in the historic courtyards and halls of Statale University. Design Re-Evolution, the show’s main theme, explores design and architecture as tools to venture into unexplored physical and digital paths, contemporary and to come, evolutionary and revolutionary. On-show are also installations by Odile Decq, Piero Lissoni e Stefano Boeri, and more.
Nilufar Gallery + Nilufar Depot
Via della Spiga 32 [Map] and Viale Vincenzo Lancetti, 34 [Map].
Nilufar Depot installation – Courtesy of Nilufar gallery.
Nina Yashar, the founder of the iconic Nilufar Gallery, is an eminent style arbiter of Milan Design Week. At her gallery in Via della Spiga, in the heart of Milan’s fashion district, and the serendipitous design depot in a former silverware factory she presents works by Joaquim Tenreiro, Maximilian Marchesani, Lina Bo Bardi, and more.
Masterly
April 18-23. Palazzo Giureconsulti, Piazza dei Mercanti 2 [Map].
Flow wall desk by Robert van Embricqs @ Masterly Milano 2023 – Courtesy of Masterly.
The seventh edition of Masterly, Milan’s biggest Dutch Design event, opens the doors to its new headquarters. Wander through the stunning halls of the historic Palazzo Giureconsulti overlooking Piazza Duomo. Among the 80 participants of this year’s edition Fatboy presents new collections imbued with its quirky imprint; Marcell van Doorn introduces playful wall tapestries and patterns for the Fuli brand. Philips MyCreation debuts 3d-printed and textured sustainable lighting objects. Robert van Embricqs presents a kinetic wall desk.
Milano Design District & Corso Monforte
April 17-23. Multiple locations in Via Durini and around [Map].
Slamp flagship store @ Milano Design District.
Milano Design District is the district and brand by Milano Durini Design, a street association bringing together more than 40 leading design companies’ flagship stores in the city center, from Durini Street to Piazza Fontana. Cappellini, Cassina, Ethimo, TechnoGym, Natuzzi, Slamp, Salvioni, and Porro are only some of the partners of the district. This year, under the theme URBAN METAMORPHOSIS, the showrooms of the district present new collections of products in over 30,000 sqm of evocative settings and new display spaces including special installations, events and talks, involving the most outstanding names of the design community. On Thursday 20 April, the streets of design will come alive with extraordinary events and hours, until 10 PM, for an evening that has become an eagerly awaited tradition during the design week.
A stone-throw away from Milano Design Districts is Corso Monforte where you can find the flagship stores of some of the major Italian lighting design companies, including FLOS, Foscarini, Artemide, Foscarini, Luceplan, and more, that present their ultimate collections.
Design Variations
April 18-23. Multiple locations.
Design Variations 2023, the facade of Palazzo Visconti.
Brought forward by Mosca Partners, the Design Variations platform goes on show in three locations. Studio Zaven creates a site-specific installation on the façade of the Circolo Filologico Milanese [Map]. Palazzo Visconti [Map] offers an itinerary to discover the use of natural and durable materials in the design world – Including an anthological exhibition of projects from Michele De Lucchi and Andrea Branzi’s course at the Milan Polytechnic. Discover a setup inside the Istituto Marchiondi Spagliardi, a brutalist masterpiece by architect Vittoriano Viganò that, for the first time, will be opened to the public [Map].
Isola Design District
April 18-23. Multiple venues. Metro station Isola [Map].
Isola Design Festival – Photo by ©Salvatore Pollara.
It’s time to roll up our sleeves and make a difference now because nothing happens if nothing happens. This is the message Isola Design District aims to spread with more than 40 exhibitions and installations involving almost 300 international designers and manufacturers. Isola Design Gallery celebrates unique and handcrafted products. Design Lebanon explores the country’s resilient design scene despite the exceptional conjunction of social, political, and economic crises. Hosted in the scenic covered square of the Regione Lombardia, Circolare – The Circular Village showcases natural raw materials, biomaterials, and products made with natural resources or industrial waste, with a minimum environmental impact. Irreverent Monkey 47 dry gin transforms the park under the Bosco Verticale skyscrapers into a German Gin Garten filled with design, live music, and signature cocktails.
Porta Venezia Design District
April 17-23. Multiple Locations around Porta Venezia metro station, [Map].
Moooi at Milan Design Week 2023 – Photo by Moooi.
The debuting Porta Venezia Design District is l’altro – the other – destination. The different and unexpected one. With over 30 exhibitions and installations by designers and brands. Start your tour from the Meet Digital Culture Center [Viale Vittorio Veneto 2, April 17-23], showcasing the Everything installation by Turkish studio Nohlab. At the Future impact exhibition [April 18-23, West Bastion, former casa del pane], Tony Chambers and Maria Cristina Didero invited six of Singapore’s best-known designers to propose solutions for building a better future. Where is design going? is the question that gives the title to the exhibition of the fashion and design institute Raffles Milano [via Felice Casati 16, from 17 to April 23]. Moooi is back with A life extraordinary [Salone dei Tessuti, via San Gregorio 29, April 18-22] hybridizing real and digital, technology and human interaction. At the Blinds Institute of Milan [via Vivaio 7, April 18-22], WonderGlass presents Abrakadabra. On show works by John Pawson, Tom Dixon, Elena Salmistraro, Elisa Ossino, Paul Cocksedge, and more.
Dropcity
April 18-23. Via Sammartini 60, [Map].
Dropcity – Photo by ©Delfino Sisto Legnani.
Explore exhibitions, talks, and installations under the vaults of the Magazine Raccordati tunnels of Milan’s Central Station. Architect Andrea Caputo conceived the Dropcity Centre for Architecture and Design initiative. U Joints creates a temporary bookstore, while SKWAT highlights the usually invisible backstage of construction sites.
Morel Design Week
Via Privata Gradisca 18, [Map].
Morel Design Week – Photo via IG, follo @morelmilano.
A former industrial textile factory, the Morel Design Week in Zona Certosa opens to the public for the first time. Morel Design Week highlights the manufacturing history present within its architectures for almost 100 years – “Opening up a reflection on our future where the keyword is KNOW-HOW, with a focus on craftsmanship, creativity, and gastronomy in collaboration with designers, artisans, and gastronomes.”
Repubblica del Design
April 18-23. Various locations in Bovisa, Dergano, Lancetti, and Affori + San Vittore prison.
Repubblica del Design debuts at Fuorisalone 2019 – Photo via IG, follow @bovisadesigndistrict.
#regeneration, #social, #energy are the keywords of the Repubblica del Design, the only district active 365 days a year in the Bovisa – Dergano – Lancetti and this year also Affori districts that promote a strategic action aimed at building a “poetic” infrastructure that rethinks the neighborhoods together with the citizens. This year the platform also presents a special project in the San Vittore prison. On show, the work of inmates who participated in the Circular Economy Workshop in collaboration with the professors of the IUAV University in Venice and the Repubblica del Design creatives.
Tortona Rocks
April 17-23. Opificio 31, Via Tortona 31, [Map].
Tortona Rocks 2022. Opificio 31, main entrance – Courtesy of Tortona Rocks.
Archipanic is proud to media partner with Tortona Rocks, the cutting-edge design destination in Tortona street, the post-industrial cradle of Milan Design Week. IKEA celebrates its 80th anniversary with the Assembling the Future Together exhibition that showcases the company’s futuristic interpretation of life at home. Archiproducts Milano unveils the TERRA interior design project by StudioPepe, while Paola Navone presents the eclectic TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT raffle. The ALTROVE project ventures outside the usual design routes to explore the suburban neighbourhood of Giambellino. Here, emerging designers stimulate fresh dialogue and reinforce design from an anthropological food laboratory to a bookshop, from a pharmacy to a historical wine shop.
Superdesign Show
April 18-23. Superstudio Più, Via Tortona 27, [Map].
GN Architetti + Phononic Vibes_GN @ Superdesign Show 2023.
Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, the Metaverse, ChatBots, and humanoid robots. How will innovation shape our homes and cities? Under the INSPIRATION INNOVATION IMAGINATION theme, Superdesign Show questions the future and stages some spectacular and challenging installations. Thanks to the large interactive space dedicated to Samsung Electronics appliances with sustainability, enter into the smart home. The Shaped by Air exhibition by Lexus shines a light on the car of the future: autonomous, naturally electric, and visionary. GN Architetti + Phononic Vibes by Giacomo Nasini present SoundSpline, an acoustic island, and a futuristic high-tech sculpture resulting from the union of engineering and interior architecture.
BASE
April 17-23. Via Bergognone 34, [Map].
Courtesy of BASE Milano.
The co-working and creative hub BASE in a former streetcars depot returns with the third edition of the We Will Design group exhibition. In the Ground Hall, Claire Fontaine – a.k.a. James Thornhill e Fulvia Carnevale – presents an installation challenging visitors with provocative neon phrases. Five ‘rooms’ showcase the work of five female designers from France, England, the Netherlands, Greece, and Germany. On show also the work of Scuola del Design del Politecnico di Milano students, Université Jean Monnet Saint-Étienne, Manchester School of Art, Tecnológico de Monterrey, and more. Every night, Le Cannibale music project makes some noise turning Base into a dance floor.
Tortona Design Week
Various locations around Via Tortona 12, [Map]
Courtesy of Tortona Design Week.
Under the theme Future to share, Tortona Design Week 2023 focuses on inclusivity starting from its epicentre, the TDW Hub in via Tortona 12. Nardi recreates a Mediterranean terrace, and TCL proposes an immersive journey through Nature’s four elements. Across the district, visitors can discover installations, events, and exhibitions by Delta Light, nhow Milano, Lexus, YOOX more.
