Milan is once again turning into a widespread laboratory of creativity, where contemporary design is contaminated with languages and cultures from different disciplines. In this personal and by no means exhaustive selection of appointments, we have collected experiences capable of narrating the present and anticipating future scenarios. We have chosen ten guiding words so as not to get lost among the hundreds of events: from emerging talents to anniversaries, unseen places to visit and immersive installations. There are the now unfailing contributions of fashion, crafts and food. And, again, experiments with materials and the enhancement of high craftsmanship, increasingly a resource that combines history and the future.

by Loredana Mascheroni

The most interesting birthdays are those that do not just celebrate a numerical milestone, but know how to take that opportunity to renew their approach and look to the future. The more than 100 Dutch participants gathered under the banner of Masterly - the Dutch at Palazzo Giureconsulti by founder and curator Nicole Uniquole are celebrating their tenth candle with a focus on wide-ranging collective projects, flanking designers, historic and new companies, artists, artisans and training schools spread over four floors and 25 rooms. The reinterpretation of the archives is entrusted to Li Edelkoort, curator with Uniquole of the exhibition "The Wunderkammer". She chooses a reflection on an emblematic project that made the history of the company, as well as constituting a turning point in the industry, Tubes, which, 20 years after the launch of Antonia Astori and Nicola De Ponti's Milano radiator, celebrates its legacy and evolution in a group exhibition with new voices of contemporary design in the city and, in its own booth at the fair, with a dedicated space. Denmark's Carl Hansen & Søn, in celebration of Hans J. Wegner's birthday on April 2, will present a special version of The Pendant model, first introduced in 1962, in the exhibition "Balanced principles - Visions of Wegner" which brings together new and classic pieces. 

by Elena Sommariva

Craftsmanship of excellence is confirmed as a living language capable of combining memory and innovation where, without nostalgia, gestures and techniques are renewed in the contemporary. A true forerunner, Homo Faber, with the exhibition "Today's Masters Meet Tomorrow's Talents", celebrates the collaboration between 22 pairs of master craftsmen and young talents who participated in the third edition of the Homo Faber Fellowship. Continuing its rediscovery of the art of fine woodworking, Etel focuses on Argentine designer Cristián Mohaded: his Entropia collection explores the creative potential of waste wood, transforming it into works that combine irregularity and geometric rigor. The new collaboration of Fornasetti with Cc-tapis, on the other hand, gives rise to a collection of rugs capable of enhancing the artist's unmistakable dreamlike stroke. Starting from the archives of the historic Milanese atelier, graphic depth and optical illusions create a theatrical collection, suspended between fiction and function. Finally, Promemoria bets on elegance, precision and style, with furniture that looks like tailor-made suits, such as the Levante dining table, upholstered in selected and treated fabrics.

by Elena Sommariva

Complicating EuroCucina's presence at the fair, also at the Fuorisalone the food design plays a central role and becomes a territory of experimentation that combines functionality and convivial culture. Kitchen and design dialogue more and more closely, resulting in immersive experiences where food also becomes visual language and narrative. Historic Finnish brand Marimekko welcomes visitors to Osteria Fiori, where it interprets the table in a joyful way, a sensory and holistic space that combines iconic patterns and contemporary design such as the new Kukasta Kukkaan floral print designed by Erja Hirvi. On the professional innovation front, FreeGo is a refrigerated display case designed by Marc Sadler for Ciam: large wheels and hybrid power supply make it a mobile and versatile element. Meisdel, a Japanese brand of custom residential kitchens, making its debut at MDW, presents Anima 01, featuring a single sheet of stainless steel, 1.5 mm thick with continuous curved lines. Finally, Takeda Katsuya explores the boundary between ritual and design, turning food preparation into an almost meditative gesture. On display in his studio is the Brace furniture series in cypress wood, inspired by the chaban, the ritual tea table.

by Valeria Casali

One of the privileged observatories for intercepting choral responses to the challenges of contemporary design are the group exhibitions. Among the proposals, "Budapest Select - Patterns of Being", curated by Hanna Imre and promoted by Creative Hungary, squares through five thematic sections a path where Hungarian designers and brands become vectors of a critical reflection on how design can delineate a future conscious of its cultural heritage, research and environmental responsibility. "Le Design Défilé" on the other hand, a review of French designers and manufacturers promoted by French Living in Motion, reconsiders the static nature of furniture also through its presentation, which unfolds along a path designed by Jakob+Macfarlane inspired by the catwalks of fashion shows. "Hello Darkness" on the other hand, is the theme of the 2026 edition of We Will Design, an ecosystem of initiatives by Base Milano for its tenth year of activity at the former Ansaldo spaces between the collective, public program, interventions at CasaBase and the presentation of a reversible furniture system conceived by studio Smarin with Emanuele Quinz. An experimental and speculative approach that sounds like an invitation to stop suffering the present and start "hacking".

by Loredana Mascheroni

The city opens up to experimentation in historic buildings or exhibition spaces of design brands. Palazzo Litta confirms itself as a center of attraction with the Cortile d'Onore hosting the first site-specific outdoor work in Italy by Lina Ghotmeh, who interprets the Metamorphosis theme of Moscow Partners Variations by focusing on memory and recognition of the uniqueness of place and movement. In another historic set, Palazzo Arese Borromeo in Cesano Maderno, the board game is staged in the exhibition "0-99. Design per gioco" curated by Cristian Confalonieri, which aligns faithful reproductions of ancient games, giant versions and limited edition or collector's pieces, and La scrivania del game designer, an installation in dialogue with Pierluigi Ghianda's desk. In the Brera area, Seletti interprets the aesthetics of DIY stores in its showroom already on the façade, while inside everyday objects take on an ironic and unexpected character. The transformation of the Kerakoll showroom space, on the other hand, is entrusted to Nathalie Du Pasquier and George Sowden: the life-size Teatro della Vita installation uses the vitality of Kerakoll Colors' 1,500 colors as an architectural element to create an imaginary city.

by Loredana Mascheroni

Furniture and fashion consolidate a synergy aimed at expanding the boundaries of creativity in both sectors. In a large-scale installation at the Pelota made from reclaimed wood, Hermès offers a collection of objects that combines metal and wood, a new table by Barber Osgerby, and a series of leather pieces that enhances the maison's craftsmanship. Atelier Biagetti draws on the aesthetics of space travel to offer a capsule collection celebrating 50 years of Mcm, with the immersive, multidiscipline installation Disco on Mars modulating its narrative with objects, music, fashion and technology. Dolce&Gabbana confirms conviviality as the cornerstone of its reconnaissance in the world of design with its collection La mise en place and the art of the table, but also applies its aesthetic to generously shaped upholstered furniture. De Castelli's showroom opens its doors this year to Antonio Marras with "The Geometry of Chaos", a site-specific exhibition featuring 23 unique works created by the designer with the brand's metals and finishes. Totems that defy gravity, screens that seem to be written in a forgotten alphabet, lamps, mirrors, and furniture convey that peculiar style that blends ancient and contemporary, breaking out of the boundaries of design, art, and fashion.

by Valeria Casali

As every year, there are several occasions when the temporary microcosms of the Fuorisalone reactivate some fragments of the city's architectural history, overwriting their content and role in the urban fabric. Following up on the installation at the Cozzi pool in 2025, 6:AM takes over the spaces of the piscina Romano this time with "Over and Over and Over". Glass collections wind through the locker rooms and exteriors of the sports complex, designed by engineer-architect Luigi Lorenzo Secchi in 1929. In contrast, the three floors of the Sima Townhouse are clad in glazed ceramics to tell dreamlike scenes thanks to Locatelli Partners and become the Glazed Bar. Samples of the forms of Milanese living from the last century include, instead, on the one hand the residential building that houses the Convey Building-which between interior spaces and terrace will host more than 20 international brands-on the other hand, a welcome foray into rationalism at Villa Pestarini by Franco Albini, one of the venues of Alcova, which doubles this year by returning to the spaces of the former military hospital in Baggio. In the villa, in addition to an installation by Patricia Urquiola for Haworth and Cassina and voices of contemporary design, a valuable insight into the work of Luisa Castiglioni finds space.

by Elena Sommariva

Traditional (such as stone and wood) or more experimental (such as polyurethane foam and Xl Extra light), materials have always been the undisputed protagonists of this week. Innovation is not only technical, but also deeply cultural, capable of redefining the very meaning of contemporary design. Materials also become critical language and bearers of environmental, technological and cultural values. Exemplary in this sense is the work of Luca Nichetto with Xl Extralight, ingredient technology used in high-performance footwear. Airstone, a bag produced in Sustainable+, is a reflection on industrial lightness, on the relationship between mass and surface area. Similarly, Giulio Iacchetti's Vertigo, a curved wooden board in Fiemme Tremila Triplostrato, demonstrates how tradition can evolve in a sustainable way. On the stone side, Martinelli Venezia transforms Bufalini's marble into a dynamic medium, while Finemateria's T40 Hack expands the experimental and radical research on polyurethane with a system of seating, armrests and laptop supports that at Dropcity grafts onto a pre-existing structure.

by Valeria Casali

At Design Week, collectible design takes the stage with purposeful forays with a strong cultural identity, brought into system with marked design solidity. In the "Nilufar Grand Hotel", curated by Nina Yashar, it becomes a device for redefining the paradigm of hospitality: in the rooms-three separate interventions by David/Nicolas, Filippo Carandini and Allegra Hicks-as in the lobby and other rooms, it is the objects that "make the space". It is possible, however, to savor a curated variation of the Belgian touch in design thanks to the encounter between Bieke Casteleyn and Jov in an installation with warm, buttery tones, where the organic forms of mirrors and furniture find visual references in the textile softness of carpets. Venice and its workshops become a methodological reference for Marta Bastianello's 34 debut pieces, amid the handcrafted manufactures of textiles, smoked glass and metallic details of furniture, lamps and carpets in "Venetian Echoes". "Polish Modernism. A Struggle for Beauty", presented by the Visteria Foundation, juxtaposes original and archival pieces of Polish modernism with reinterpretations of traditional icons, such as the meblościanka, the wall cabinet: each object carries a narrative, both personal and at the same time and collective.

by Silvana Annicchiarico

Three young designers, three backgrounds, and three ways of understanding design-Anna Jaworek, Noelani Rutz, and Gigi Totaro emerge as examples of a new generation that crosses materials, technologies, and critical research with great freedom. Anna Jaworek, a Polish designer with a studio in Krakow, works at the intersection of digital technology and handwork. Coolki is a series of hand-finished 3D-printed modular vases composed of interchangeable spheres that allow their configuration to be changed. Zurich-based Swiss designer Noelani Rutz combines materials research, traditional craftsmanship and observation of natural phenomena. Fleeting Landscapes is a tile series created with the Tajimi brand, which translates the ephemeral qualities of snow into ceramics, inviting reflection on the relationship between matter, climate and memory. Gigi Totaro, an Italian designer and researcher trained in Eindhoven, works between industrial design, materials research and ecology. Postnatural Remains is a multimedia installation that investigates the impact of illegal waste disposal in the rural ecosystems of southern Italy, opening a reflection on the ecological reuse of waste and new forms of coexistence between the natural and artificial environment.