1. Labò
Following last year’s success, Labò returns for its second edition, a collective of designers, galleries, and emerging brands organized in the industrial spaces of SPA – Società Prodotti Antibiotici – and the Rodolfo Ferrari Foundation in the Barona area. An off-the-beaten-track yet fascinating for highlighting the intensive research behind product design. The Design Blender curatorial duo selected the exhibitors, focusing on the luxe de création, material and its processing through collectable pieces born from advanced artisanal or industrial techniques.
Labò
Rodolfo Ferrari Foundation
via Biella 6, Milan
2. Alcova
Now a “classic” of Fuorisalone, Alcova this year moves beyond the city limits to occupy two villas in the metropolitan area of Varedo. These houses are Villa Borsani, a modernist home completed in 1945 by Osvaldo Borsani and home to his archive, and Villa Bagatti Valsecchi, one of the most significant examples of 19th-century villa architecture in Lombardy. The event’s founders, Valentina Ciuffi – Studio Vedèt, and Joseph Grima – Space Caviar, aim to draw visitors’ attention even outside the urban area, thanks to a mix of spaces and exhibitors innovatively and experimentally working on living environments, products, systems, materials, and technology.
Villa Borsani
via Umberto I 148, Varedo
Villa Bagatti Valsecchi
via Vittorio Emanuele II 48, Varedo
Both villas are 25 minutes from Milan’s center via the S2 and S4 Trenord railway lines.
3. Isola Design Festival
Among the rising districts, the one around the Isola neighbourhood grows yearly for 2024 lands in new locations like Lampo Milano (inside the former Scalo Farini, currently under redevelopment), WAO PL7, and Galleria Bonelli, spaces never explored during Milan’s design week. The principal theme will be This Future is Currently Unavailable highlighting the collective impact of design on the planet and humanity.
Notable international participants at the Isola Design Festival include the Spanish duo Masquespacio, who will bring a tableware-related installation to Via Luigi Porro Lambertenghi 3, also serving as a space for meetings and private events.
Lampo Milano
via Valtellina 5, Milan
WAO PL7
via Luigi Porro Lambertenghi 7, Milan
Galleria Bonelli
via Luigi Porro Lambertenghi 6, Milan
4. Milano Design District
The Milan Design District encompasses the principal flagship stores in the city centre, including Durini, corso Monforte, and Piazza San Babila; here, you can also find various mono-brand stores of big lighting brands. During Design Week, the area comes alive (last year saw 300,000 visitors) through showrooms open to industry professionals, enthusiasts, and the curious alike to reveal new products, theatrical setups, and the chance to meet designers. It’s the perfect atmosphere for shopping and discovering the latest trends.
5. Design Variations
Quality, durability, and the circular economy are essential for designing and thinking about the future of living: this is the thesis of the collective Touching Materials, the 2024 edition of Design Variations organized in the spaces of the former auto garage on Viale Gorizia, in the Darsena area. The project “Hemp-Scape” by Park Associati, will feature a scenic design of concrete and hemp bricks – easily disassembled and reusable – dividing the old parking area into three spaces. A site-specific installation by artist Nathalie Du Pasquier will welcome visitors at the entrance.
Garage
Viale Gorizia 14, Milan
6. Masterly
The Dutch design and their load of colourful flowers will once again invade the central Palazzo dei Giureconsulti, just steps from the Duomo. Masterly – The Dutch in Milan will offer a panorama of the country’s creativity, from avant-garde furniture to digital installations.
Palazzo dei Giureconsulti
Piazza dei Mercanti 2, Milan
7. Porsche, Brera Design Week
Part of the Brera Design District circuit, which is full of showrooms and events throughout Fuorisalone and is worth a visit, the piece curated by Porsche at Palazzo Clerici promises to redesign the external courtyards of the seventeenth-century noble residence. Lines of Flight by the design collective Numen/For Use is a monumental interactive installation inspired by the iconic Pepita pattern first introduced in the Porsche 356C, 911.
Palazzo Clerici
Via Clerici 5, Milan
8. Origin of Simplicity
The ADI Design Museum in Milan is hardly a secret place, but its exhibitions dedicated to the best in industrial design are a quality guarantee. Fuorisalone will present Origin of Simplicity: 20 Visions of Japanese Design, offering a novel interpretation of Japanese design with 150 works. The museum will also host other events, exhibitions, and installations in addition to the permanent collection of the Compasso d’Oro award.
ADI Design Museum
Piazza Compasso d’Oro 1, Milan
9. 5VIE Desgin Week
Now in its eleventh edition, 5VIE Design Week returns signature design and elite craftsmanship to the heart of Milan’s historic centre, covering the area that includes Corso Magenta, Sant’Ambrogio, and the Colonne di San Lorenzo. Exhibitions, installations, and performances enliven palaces and courtyards in narrow, secret cobbled lanes and corners of the city closed to the public. Among these, Palazzo Litta in Corso Magenta 24, a Baroque residence with frescoed rooms to lose oneself in, and the twentieth-century Residenza Vignale transformed into l’Appartamento by Artmest.
Residenza Vignale
Via E. Toti 2
10. Fuorisalone Festival
Set in the post-industrial setting of the former slaughterhouse, which Alcova opened last year, this year’s Fuorisalone Festival unfolds—a week filled with design exhibitions and musical events curated by Le Cannibale, APE, PianoB, Mare Culturale Urbano, and Fuorisalone. it. With 3,800 square meters, over 70,000 visitors are expected for an event still in the making but shaping up as a new and significant reality of Milan Design Week.
