A new edition of Milan Design Week begins today, once again revealing a city entirely different from the one we’re used to. It is a city that, through design itself, has redefined its boundaries—moving beyond the traditional idea of neighborhoods and reshaping its map around districts that act as active drivers of a vibrant, ongoing transformation. The Domus team explored them all, stopping at key Fuorisalone venues, and selected eight spaces you should definitely experience. A now-anticipated yet never predictable highlight is Alcova, which presents product design in extraordinary locations—this year including Villa Pestarini, a work by Franco Albini that had largely gone unnoticed until now. At the Istituto dei Ciechi, one of the most compelling installations we’ve seen (and heard) so far is a synesthetic experience curated by Dotdotdot for Geely Auto. The façade of Palazzo Citterio comes into bloom thanks to the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation, celebrating rebirth, resilience, and hope, while hosting works by twelve international designers inside the building. Also worth noting: a hidden gallery transformed into a hotel; two very different swimming pools that have become unexpected stages for design this year; and, of course, a fashion boutique that reminds us of the central role this sector continues to play in shaping contemporary design.

If Design Week has increasingly become a showcase for brands, Uzbekistan takes a different route: spectacle, but anchored in a clear vision and a strong narrative, closer to a Biennale approach. At Palazzo Citterio, “When Apricots Blossom”, curated by Kulapat Yantrasast (founder of WHY Architecture), draws inspiration from the verses of a renowned Uzbek poet. The exhibition weaves together ecological crisis and cultural continuity in the Aral Sea region, once a vast salt lake, now a symbol of global environmental collapse. Twelve designers collaborate with local artisans around the apparently simple theme of bread-making, producing a precise, moving body of work that stands out among the Fuorisalone’s best displays. In the courtyard, a large pavilion rises, inspired by nomadic yurts, serving both as a functional gathering space and a narrative device. Designed as a mobile structure, it is intended to return to Uzbekistan after the Week. Alessandro Scarano

A short walk from Villa Necchi Campiglio, the Istituto dei Ciechi – founded in the 19th century to support the education and inclusion of visually impaired people – hosts a striking intervention in its Sala dell’Organo (Organ Hall). Here, an organ destroyed during World War II returns to sound for the first time in nearly a century. The occasion is Anima Mundi, a site-specific installation by multidisciplinary design studio Dotdotdot for Geely Auto. The project is both visual and sonic, framing the idea of the Renaissance as an ongoing technological impulse that continues to shape our present. In the frescoed hall, plunged into darkness, five monumental scrims form an ever-shifting audiovisual environment activated by visitors’ presence. “Each scrim corresponds to a sphere of life, human and non-human, from the subterranean to the urban”, Dotdotdot’s Laura Dellamotta tells Domus. Still, the sound system is what truly stands out: a device installed beneath the restored instrument captures environmental data – presence, temperature, humidity – and translates it into a four-minute dynamic score, activating the organ in real time. The space itself, together with the bodies inhabiting it, becomes the composer. Alessia Baranello

“Over and over and over and over.” In a world defined by constant change, repetition can be reassuring – at least according to 6:AM, whose installation ranks among the most atmospheric of this year’s Design Week. Some might see the choice of location as another repetition: following last year’s intervention in the former public showers of Piscina Cozzi, the duo once again turns to a 1929 pool designed by Luigi Secchi. This time it’s Piscina Romano, in Città Studi, where 6:AM presents its ongoing exploration of glass and the way light passes through it. But rather than repetition, this feels like an evolution, an embrace of unpredictability. Alongside small luminous sculptures embedded in the changing rooms, the duo introduces large modular structures built from identical elements, turning lighting design into a spatial strategy and scaling it up to architecture. The pool itself is off-limits, fenced off from visitors, but if you’re after a quieter stop away from the city center’s chaos, Bar Pieno – set up outside from 9.30 am to 10 pm throughout the week – is reason enough to make the trip. Francesca Critelli

Once again, Nina Yashar’s gallery-depot—tucked away in a courtyard in the Farini district—offers a compelling take on what curatorial and cultural work can mean in the delicate terrain of luxury design. This year, it shifts focus to the world of hospitality.
At the core of the concept are five environments: a lounge, a sumptuous fumoir with dining room (set within a vault), and three bedrooms. Filippo Carandini’s room is populated by “nocturnal animals” drawn to the luminous lacquers of bed and chest; Allegra Hicks creates a quieter atmosphere, built on subtle dialogues with the stories embedded in Borsani armchairs; david/nicolas stage a tension between modernist wooden geometries and the undulating choreography of de Gournay wallpapers.
Upstairs, further spaces emerge from the dialogue between new, sometimes provocative, proposals and Nilufar’s signature archival culture: a meditation room where Gabriella Crespi’s brass meets the Japanese ryokan; a penthouse suite furnished by Bethan Laura Wood; and encounters such as George Morasseb’s tables in powdered marble and cement set against 1960s glass-trunk chandeliers. Elsewhere, Carbon Cycles by Maximilian Marchesani a floating-phone-screens reflection on carbon – confront American modernist armchairs by Wormley. Giovanni Comoglio

A gem of Italian Rationalism, Villa Pestarini – designed by Franco Albini in the 1930s – makes its debut as one of Alcova’s venues. From the street, it reads as a stark white box; inside, it opens up into a far more animated domestic landscape, with a “floating” staircase set against a glass-brick wall and a bold use of color—pink glass screening at the main entrance, ochre-yellow window frames. For the occasion, Haworth and Cassina have staged the living area with a project curated by Patricia Urquiola, bringing together Albini’s iconic pieces, meticulously reissued by Cassina. The real surprise, however, lies on level -1: a custom table designed by Luisa Castiglioni, Albini’s student, set within a polycarbonate-clad environment. The reissue comes from Studio Boccamonte, now stewarding Castiglioni’s legacy, unearthing a previously unseen archive while developing new work in continuity with her practice. Among them, the Ango Lare mirror, interacting with two converging walls, and a protruding LED element that casts light across reflective surfaces. Francesca Critelli

A razor-sharp essay by Ursula K. Le Guin, obviously Ernaux’s The Years (in English), the inevitable The Prophet by Gibran, and a constellation of other expected and unexpected titles, from the I Ching to Baudrillard. Each rests on its own lectern in a mirrored room that feels almost theatrical, inside Jil Sander’s ultra-minimal Milan space – where else. Conceived by Apartamento in collaboration with the brand, the project brings together 60 books selected by writers, designers, curators, and artists: Hans Ulrich Obrist (of course), Formafantasma, Nifemi Marcus Bello, alongside figures like Lykke Li and Charlie Porter. The premise is predictable: creatives selecting books to inspire other creatives. But studioutte’s exhibition design perfectly masters the brief: chrome lecterns bathed in warm light reflect endlessly across mirrored walls, creating a suspended, contemplative atmosphere. Access is limited, time slows down, and in the midst of digital overload, the experience feels quietly restorative. Books are handled with white gloves – yours to keep on the way out. A small gesture, unexpectedly effective. Not to be missed. Alessandro Scarano

“Ti sblocco un ricordo” (“Let me unlock a memory for you”). That’s the premise: a ball pit and an exhibition curated by Nicolas Ballario mark the 40th anniversary of McDonald’s first Italian restaurant, opened in Rome’s Piazza di Spagna. Part of the Tortona Design District circuit, the show brings together iconic objects, archival materials, design pieces, and memorabilia from the McDonald’s universe, alongside contemporary artworks – among them a Spot Painting by Damien Hirst and Vedovamazzei’s Early Works, imagining the world’s most famous artists as children. Stepping inside feels like entering a time machine: back to Happy Meals, back to childhood, back into a pool of colored balls. Possibly the perfect way to wrap up day one of Design Week. Alessia Baranello