Milan Design Weeks
April 2026

The theme chosen for 2026, Metamorphosis, is conceived as a transformation driven by experimentation, by the development of new materials, and by the technologies available to us today. The challenge for the design world is to interpret contemporary scenarios and envision future ones. If on one hand, the reference point is the human being, with their needs and desires, on the other hand, it is crucial to reflect on our relationship with the planet, its resources, and the way we interact with our surroundings, fostering a virtuous connection among the many dimensions of life.

The installation "Metamorphosis in Motion" by Lina Ghotmeh transforms the courtyard into a living stage where architecture, memory, and movement converge. Curved geometries, sequential paths, and shifting perspectives guide visitors through a choreographed journey, turning a historic setting into an interactive labyrinth. Each area offers distinct ways of engaging with space, light, and natural elements, inviting exploration and reflection. The work activates participation without altering the structure, creating a dialogue between heritage and contemporary design. It reinterprets the courtyard not only as a threshold but as a collective ecosystem, where perception, movement, and human interaction shape an evolving architectural narrative. Through sensory experience, spatial awareness, and a play of perspectives, the installation fosters connections between individuals, the environment, and the broader context of design, memory, and transformation.

Palazzo Litta
Corso Magenta 24
20121 Milan

Contact: info@moscapartners.it
www.moscapartners.it

As part of the Moscapartners Variations 2026 event, designer Emmanuel Babled presents “Crossing Light,” an exhibition born from the encounter between different identities, those of Italy and Tanzania, and unfolding as a collective narrative across cultures, techniques, and communities. Here, the Italian glassmaking tradition blends with the colors, philosophies, and artisanal cultures of Africa. The exhibition was conceived by Kukua Ltd, a Tanzanian social enterprise founded by Babled, with the support of Babled Design Limitada, the designer’s Lisbon-based studio.

Palazzo Litta
Corso Magenta 24
20121 Milan

Contact: info@moscapartners.it
www.moscapartners.it

Naba, Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, participates as part of MoscaPartners Variations 2026 with “Extreme Environments”, an immersive and research-based installation developed in collaboration with CIAL, Consorzio Nazionale per il Riciclo degli Imballaggi in Alluminio.

“Extreme Environments” invites visitors to reflect on how design can react, adapt, and generate new visions in extreme contexts: from vertical cities to remote places, from prohibitive temperatures to situations of significant social fragility, exploring limits and new possibilities. The environment, in fact, can no longer be considered exclusively as nature or landscape: extreme temperatures, overcrowded cities contrasted with silent desert spaces, technologies that amplify perception, while natural environments are shrinking. The very concept of “environment” today goes beyond the natural landscape; it also includes climate conditions, habitable space, and social and cultural ecosystems.

Moscapartners Variations, Palazzo Litta
Corso Magenta 24
20121 Milan

Contact: events@naba.it
www.naba.it

Budapest Select - Patterns of Being collective exhibition explores the role of humans in shaping the world through the intersections of design and art - portraying humanity as a being drifting in currents, striving for change, accepting fate, living in cycles, and taking responsibility.

The exhibition presents the reflections of contemporary Hungarian creators on the call to action “Be the Project” across five thematic sections, responding sensitively to cultural, social, ecological, and material‑ and form‑related challenges. The 26 selected artists and designers offer works that not only hold aesthetic value but also carry intellectual depth: exploring the possibilities of material use, the memory embedded in form, cultural heritage, the reinterpretation of craft and industrial traditions, the relationship between humans and nature, and questions of ethical responsibility.

The spatial concept of the Budapest Select – Patterns of Being exhibition was designed by the VÜ Architects firm, based on the decision of the advisory panel. The project contributes to the international presentation of contemporary Hungarian design, translating the questions of human existence and responsibility to spatial experience, and supports the successful showcase of Hungarian designers.

The project's aim is to provide the audience of Milan Design Week with a diverse yet coherent picture of the current aspirations of the Hungarian creative scene and its representatives - those who, through the transformations of the present, are sketching a delicate map of the future.

Curator: Hanna Imre.
Creators of the Budapest Select – Patterns of Being exhibition: Anna Kis-Kéry, CÉZÉ, DE_VISION, Dora Eiler, Econor Design, ERNAK Design, Fanni Hegyi, HomeArt by SsakoolHypers, IDA STONE, István Dukai, Kinga Mód, Ligeti, monikauveges, mybettershelf, Nóra Szilágyi, Sándor Körei, sarakele studio, Studio Arkhéo × Reneszánsz Kőfaragó Zrt., TIKTIK Studio, VALODI, VeronikWood, Vivien Bene, VUUV Works, Woodoo Furniture, YOZA, Zita Majoros

Via Olmetto 1
20123 Milan

Press Contact: creativehungary@camronglobal.com
chungary.com/budapest-select-patterns-of-being

Triennale Milano presents a series of exhibitions and projects, reaffirming its standing as an institutional point of reference in design and architecture while also showcasing intriguing international developments.

Visitors are able to take in the retrospective Edward Barber | Jay Osgerby. Alphabet, curated by Marco Sammicheli, layout designed by Studio Mille, a review of how the London duo’s creative explorations evolved between 1990 and 2022, while also enjoying the new layout of the Museo del Design Italiano, conceived of by Marco Sammicheli and Marilia Pederbelli, as well as the exhibitions Andrea Branzi by Toyo Ito. Continuous Present, produced in collaboration with the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, concept and layout design by Toyo Ito, curated by Nina Bassoli and Michela Alessandrini, and Lella and Massimo Vignelli. A Language of Clarity, curated by Francesca Picchi, together with Marco Sammicheli and Studio Mut (Martin Kerschbaumer and Thomas Kronbichler), layout design by Jasper Morrison Office for Design, featuring David Saik.

As always, Ettore Sottsass’s Casa Lana is open to visitors, with the added attraction of a new exhibit in Sottsass Hall on the famed architect and designer. Awaiting the public on the park floor will be Nello spazio di un secolo. Rai Pubblicità, 100 anni di storia e oltre, an exhibition on the 100-year history of Rai radio and television advertising, promoted by Rai Pubblicità.

Triennale’s spaces also hosts the creative projects and designs of international institutions and enterprises, for an in-depth look at key topics in contemporary design, including Casa Ultrapiega, promoted by Anonima Castelli, layout design by Spalvieri & Del Ciotto; The Eames Houses, a project of the Eames Office, in collaboration with the Charles & Ray Eames Foundation; Fredericia: una cronaca del design danese by the Fredericia brand; Continuum on the Gebrüder Thonet Vienna brand, layout design by Spalvieri & Del Ciotto; HYLEtech lab Light in Matter – variazioni sul tema dell’architettura by Hyletech; and Frans Dijkmeijer: The Silent Pioneer, promoted by Kvadrat, curated by Marco Sammicheli, layout design by Jacob Manz.

Triennale Milano
Viale Emilio Alemagna 6
20121 Milan

Contact: triennale.org/

Jacopo Gonzato, Joel Shearer, Nuria du Chêne de Vère presents: Synesthetic Wunderkammer

Cavallerizze
Via Olona 4
20123 Milan

XL Extralight®️ presents Airstone, the new tote bag designed by Nichetto®️ and featured in a special installation curated by the studio itself. Made from XL Extralight®️, an ingredient technology known for its extreme lightness and widely used internationally in high-performance footwear, Airstone stems from a design paradox: evoking mass, density, and solidity through a material that has made lightness its very essence. The result is a subtle tension between perception and reality, where Nichetto®️’s design plays with the research into materials to redefine the very idea of weight. The bag, produced in a numbered / limited edition, will be on sale exclusively within the installation.

Spazio Big SantaMarta
Via Santa Marta 10
20123 Milan

Contact: hello@barbatibertolissi.contact
xlextralight.com

To celebrate its 35th anniversary, Xinao Textiles, a global leader in high-quality natural fibers, is presenting an interior design project, "The Art of Yarn," for the first time at Milan Design Week.

The project, curated and directed by Pierluigi Fucci, explores the combination of textile art, interior design, and research into
materials, with an installation exhibited inside Cortile22, in the 5Vie district. For this installation, Pierluigi Fucci has designed a series of furnishing accessories made with precious Xinao Cashmere pure cashmere yarns, handcrafted by Italian artisans.

With "The Art of Yarn," yarn transcends textile material to become form, volume, and a sculptural language. Pierluigi Fucci's project pays homage to Croatian artist Jagoda Buić, a key figure in the "New Tapestry" movement, which radically influenced the designer's career and development. With her works, Jagoda Buić transformed traditional weaving into three-dimensional, architectural, and immersive textile environments. Her installations were presented at the Venice Biennale and are now part of the permanent collection of the MoMA - Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Following this artistic legacy, Pierluigi Fucci transforms Xinao Cashmere yarns into works characterized by three-dimensional reliefs, dynamic fringes, and textile techniques that emphasize the tactile dimension of the material.

Cortile 22
Via San Maurilio 22
20123 Milan

Press Contact: info@barbieriridet.com

For the first time, Alcova opens Villa Pestarini to the public, the only private residence in Milan designed by Franco Albini. A manifesto of mid-20th-century Italian Rationalism, where proportions, light, and materials construct an idea of living that remains strikingly contemporary. Here, designers are invited to engage directly with Albini’s legacy, activating it in the present.
Within this setting, Haworth and Cassina present an installation by Patricia Urquiola that reinterprets the entrance and living areas, and there is a project dedicated to the work of Luisa Castiglioni. Contemporary voices include Greek architect and designer Kiki Goti; Paris-based textile maison Issé, with its first collaboration with architect and designer Sophie Dries; Japanese collective AtMa Inc, and Around the Studio, from Tbilisi.

Villa Pestarini
Via Mogadiscio 2/4
20146 Milan

The former complex takes shape as a true “city within the city,” composed of streets, courtyards, and service buildings that host a constellation of site-specific installations. International schools occupy and activate various areas of the site with projects that explore new ways of living and producing, combining material experimentation with alternative visions to contemporary habits. The AA School of Architecture in London makes its debut at Alcova, presenting an experimental pavilion and a selection of works by alumni and students, inside the Laundry; international studios include Pani Jurek Studio, Salak Studio, and Spanish studio Kilzi. In addition to installations by Slalom, in collaboration with Vintage Audio Institute, by the interior and furniture designer Llewellyn Chupin, and by Greek designer Natalia Triantafylli and London-based designer-maker Andrew Pierce Scott.

Baggio Military Hospital
Via Giovanni Labus 10
20147 Milan