What to See at Milan Design Week 2024
Our editor’s briefing of what to see and where to be during the year’s biggest design event
If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed by all the exhibitions, launch events, talks and other happenings across Milan during the city’s annual design week, you’re not alone. We’ve scoured our inboxes and tapped our connections to compile a list of what you should prioritise in your schedule this week to make the most of your time in the city.
Aesop
Australian beauty and skincare brand Aesop makes its first foray into Milan Design Week with an installation in its new Milan store. Body Cleansing Slabs form the very building blocks of a literal ‘soap salon’ by Belgian architect Nicolas Schuybroek. Inside the salon, an expert Aesop therapist will enact a live performative facial at specified times each day, giving viewers a glimpse into the brand’s finely tuned choreography of custom-blended tinctures and formulations. In addition to these regular activities, a panel discussion will take place on 17 Apr at four p.m. at the Salone Pavilion in the Salone del Mobile fairgrounds. Expect also to encounter the Aesop Aromatoria popping up across the city with some of the brand’s signature fragrances — which you’ll likely smell before you see.
Piazza Cordusio 2, Unit 4
Image by Piergiorgio Sorgetti
Alcova
Itinerant design platform Alcova is back for its seventh iteration, this year spread across two equally impressive historic locations: Villa Borsani and Villa Bagatti Valsecchi. The locations, within walking distance of each other, will be brought to life by Alcova’s distinctively curated selection of emerging and experimental designers (which this year includes Junya Ishigami, Tom Fereday, Objects of Common Interest, Álvaro Catalán de Ocón and many more), in addition to an inspiring programme of talks and performances. If the locations alone are anything to go by, Alcova will be the talk of the town.
Villa Borsani: Via Umberto I 148, Varedo
Villa Bagatti Valsecchi: Via Vittorio Emanuele II 48, Varedo
Christopher Boots
Known for his luxurious light fixtures crafted with rare and precious stones sourced from across the globe, Australian designer Christopher Boots will be showcasing his first foray into mouth-blown glass. Entitled Crux, the new series and installation was inspired by the five stars that make up Southern Cross — the most recognisable constellation of stars in the southern hemisphere.
Via Ciovasso 17
Danto × India Mahdavi and Teruhiro Yanagihara
Japan’s oldest mass-produced tile manufacturer Danto is launching its new brand Alternative Artefacts Danto (A.a. Danto) during design week. The installation will include new collections by the brand’s creative director Teruhiro Yanagihara and designer India Mahdavi, its first international collaborator. Alongside the brand’s newest creations, the exhibition will show fragments of the past in the form of objects and glazes from the island of Awajishima, Danto’s home of over 140 years.
Via Cesare Correnti 14
Image by John William
Faye Toogood × cc-tapis and Tacchini
British designer Faye Toogood has created a new collection of rugs full of mischievous motifs, provocative forms and bold colours for cc-tapis. ‘These are rugs to roll around on, with lumps and bulges to grab hold of,’ Toogood says. The new Rude collection will be shown alongside Toogood’s first collection of furniture with Tacchini in a space dubbed The Rude Arts Club.
Piazza Santo Stefano 10
Future Impact
Presented by DesignSingapore Council and co-curated by Tony Chambers and Maria Cristina Didero, Future Impact 2 will show new works by a number of Singapore’s most innovative designers. Building on the success of last year’s showcase, Future Impact 2 presents new approaches to materiality, design and production that address global challenges and solutions for a sustainable future.
La Rotonda del Pellegrini, Via delle Ore 3
Following Google’s standout showcase in 2023, the tech company will present Making Sense of Color, ‘a journey from the ethereal to the material that shines a light on the sensorial qualities of colour’. Co-created by Google’s vice president of hardware design, Ivy Ross, and her design team in collaboration with arts and research lab Chromasonic, the installation shows how colour is fundamental to life and an important part of the brand’s hardware design.
Garage 21, Via Archimede 26
Gunjan Gupta
New Delhi-based Indian artist and designer Gunjan Gupta is undoubtedly one of the most important designers of our time, and her work pays tribute to the rich traditions and varied cultures of her home country. Having mostly worked in limited editions, Gupta launched her brand IKKIS (meaning 21 in Hindi) to be able to share her work with a wider audience. Indian Tiny Mega Store, curated by Maria Cristina Didero, will present a limited offering of only 21 copies of 21 products, available to purchase within the tiny exhibition space during design week.
Via Cesare Correnti 14, 5VIE
Image by Ian Allen
Jay Sae Jung Oh
Innovative Korean designer Jay Sae Jung Oh’s showcase at Palazzo Litta, Salvage, will showcase her latest work. The Seattle-based designer’s journey began by witnessing the piles of prototypes and debris she was surrounded by at art school, and she quickly realised that even waste can be redeemed and transformed into something not just beautiful, but also useful. ‘Our throwaway culture makes me increasingly interested in objects that people waste or consider invaluable,’ Oh says.
Palazzo Litta, Corso Magenta 24, 5VIE
Karimoku
Japanese furniture brand Karimoku Furniture will showcase all four of its brands in Milan this year. The collaboration-focused Karimoku Case will be at the Salone del Mobile, while Karimoku New Standard, MAS, and SEYUN will each be in their own dedicated venues, all located within walking distance of each other in the Tortona district.
Hall 24, Salone del Mobile (Karimoku Case)
Via Tortona 4 (Karimoku New Standard)
Via Tortona 12 (SEYUN — ZAHA HADID DESIGN® × Karimoku)
Via Tortona 14 (MAS)
Kohler
Continuing its long-term partnership with British artist-designer Dr. Samuel Ross and his studio SR_A, Kohler will present a large-scale immersive installation to unveil Formation 02, a new smart toilet designed by Ross. The designer drew inspiration from the velocity and power of water in nature for the design, which required unique moulding and tooling techniques to produce. Formation 02 will be shown within Terminal 02, a large-scale site-specific installation in the grand Palazzo del Senato.
Palazzo del Senato, Via Senato 10
Lasvit
Leading Czech glass maker Lasvit will present Re/Creation, a monumental outdoor installation showcasing the brand's innovation in design and glassmaking. The centrepiece of the presentation is an installation by Lasvit’s creative director Maxim Velcovsky, which features alongside a new collection by Swedish architectural studio Claesson Koivisto Rune as well as other new and limited-edition pieces.
Palazzo Isimbardi, Corso Monforte 35
Majotae
New Japanese textile brand majotae will debut its first collection of luxury hemp-cloth bedding, named majotae 9490 and designed in collaboration with Teruhiro Yanagihara Studio. The inaugural collection will be shown in two venues, with creative direction by Yanagihara. Secci Milano hosts an installation on the history and future of the material, while at Berta, majotae’s taima-fu (natural hemp cloth) research and archive will be presented in an immersive exhibition.
Secci Milano, Via Olmetto, 5VIE
Berta, Via Cesare Correnti 14, 5VIE
Image by Marcello Maranzan
Nilufar Depot
Nina Yashar’s Nilufar Depot will present Time Traveler, an exhibition of works by the likes of Allegra Hicks, Andrés Reisinger, Martino Gamper, Bethan Laura Wood and many more, alongside vintage design masterpieces (by Gabriella Crespi and several Brazilian icons), gathered together in a way that only the Italian impresario is capable of.
Viale Lancetti 34
Image by Pier Carthew
Volker Haug × Flack Studio
Melbourne-based lighting designers Volker Haug Studio have teamed up with multidisciplinary architectural designers Flack Studio to create and launch new collection Me & You. What began as one custom piece for Troye Sivan’s Flack-designed Melbourne abode has resulted in a collection of 13 decorative light fixtures, produced with a variety of materials including glass, bronze, ceramic and fibreglass
Via San Maurilio 18
