BEST of milan design week 2024

milan design week 2024 highlights

From April 15th to 21st, 2024, Milan Design Week once again took over the streets of the vibrant Italian city. Design enthusiasts from all across the globe converged to experience one of the busiest and most exciting moments in the creative world. Beyond unveiling the latest product releases at the Salone del Mobile, Milan Design Week showcased a wide range of immersive installations, exhibitions, and events, turning courtyards and historical buildings into hubs of inspiration. Curious to dive into the highlights?

Scroll down to discover what went down during the week, as we unveil the BEST shows of Milan Design Week 2024. 

starck x designboom instagram takeover

image © designboom

On Monday April 15th, we kicked off Milan Design Week with the one and only Philippe Starck. We followed the iconic creator through his day in Milan, from celebrating his 30th anniversary collaboration with Cassina, to unveiling his immersive homage to Alessandro Mendini at the Triennale di Milano. Every moment was documented in real-time on our Instagram stories!

philippe starck’s homage to alessandro mendini

image © Triennale Milano

At the Triennale di Milano, Philippe Starck unveiled What? an immersive homage to Alessandro Mendini. The installation takes visitors into the creative universe of the Italian architect, designer and artist, through the eyes of the French creator. The show serves as a sensory, immaterial journey into Mendini’s subconscious, with his voice and his laughter, mixed, distorted, and superimposed, transporting us into an elsewhere beyond gravity. 

bmw and designboom’s live talk

image courtesy of BMW Design

During Milan Design Week 2024, FUTURE OF JOY by BMW Design unveiled the behind-the-scenes design and development processes of the BMW Vision Neue Klasse and BMW Vision Neue Klasse X. Greeting visitors with a floral entrance in the Brera district, the exhibition invited guests to see, hear, feel, taste, and even smell the vision of mobility of tomorrow. In addition, designboom and BMW Design hosted a live talk on Monday 15 April titled Design as Accelerator for Change, delving into the role of design, the new design era of BMW, and how design can be the catalyst for positive change in mobility and more. Moderated by journalist Eva Steidl, the panel featured Alice Rawsthorn, design critic and co-founder of Design Emergency, and Holger Hampf, Head of BMW Group Designworks.

Hermès Collection Maison 2024

image © Maxime Verret

At La Pelota, Hermès transformed the space with a unique display featuring raw materials like brick, stone, slate, wood, and compacted earth, arranged to depict a jockey’s silk jersey on the floor. The wood-like surface formed an X-shaped platform, inviting visitors to walk upon it while admiring the diverse materials. The colorful geometric motifs of the jockey silk, planted on the floor as an indoor installation, paid homage to Hermès’ heritage in leather goods and textiles. Accompanying these materials was the Hermès Collection Maison 2024, which included a new tableware collection called Tressages équestres. Inspired by the intricate patterns of the equestrian world, from dinner plates to bowls, the designs featured imprints of intertwined cotton and leather threads. This collection served as both a tribute to the artisan’s skill and a nod to the enduring connection between horse, rider, and the craftsmanship that binds them together. ‘Each new collection is a way to tell a new story, to make reference to our heritage,’ Benoit Pierre Emery, creative director of La Table Hermès, tells designboom. Read the interview in full, here. 

nendo at paola lenti

nendo landed at the Paola Lenti showroom in Milan to showcase a solo exhibition of five new product collections. Dubbed Whispers of Nature, the project spotlighted natural phenomena often overlooked in everyday life: the ambiguity of clouds, the relationship between light and shadow, the flow of time perceived underground or during a passing rain, and plants soaked in water. Through this concept, nendo founder Oki Sato explained to designboom how he seeks to unravel a new perspective for visitors. ‘If people can find a new hint, just enjoy seeing things in a different light, they will notice just how interesting our boring, everyday life becomes. And I think that is a true luxury.’ Read more about the exhibition here. 

MAD ARCHITECTS at the University of Milan

image via @madarchitects

MAD Architects, in collaboration with Amazon, presented the Amazing Walk installation as part of the INTERNI Cross Vision event exhibition at FuoriSalone 2024. The installation was situated in the Cortile della Farmacia dell’Università degli Studi di Milano and is open to the public until April 28th. It featured a curated selection of home furnishing and design products available on Amazon.it. The Amazing Walk was a walk-through installation designed to offer visitors a sensory journey in a unique setting. A geometric mountain-like formation reflected on a body of water, creating a visually striking environment. Visitors had the opportunity to walk along a suspended path over the water, symbolizing their exploration journey of products available on Amazon.it. Read more about the installation here. 

google’s making sense of color

image courtesy of Google | photo by Edoardo Delille & Giulia Piermartiri

Google’s Design Studio curated the immersive exhibition Making Sense of Color in Garage 21 at Via Archimede, 26. Visitors were greeted by a dark room illuminated by 21 open box rooms, each surrounded by semi-transparent walls. Stepping into these boxes, guests experienced a sensory journey, listening to sound frequencies composed by arts and research lab Chromasonic, watching neon lights change in sync with the beat, and feeling vibrations run through their skin. Transitioning to brightly lit spaces, guests explored how colors are perceived through touch, sight, smell, and taste. Google’s interpretation of hues and their associations aimed to help visitors understand and appreciate the complexities of color perception. Read more about the installation and the interview with Google’s Ivy Ross here.

issey miyake and We Make Carpets’ surface installations

image courtesy of ISSEY MIYAKE

Inside the Issey Miyake boutique, art collective We Make Carpets created a series of surface installations. Visitors were greeted to the boutique with over 50,000 colored skewers and pins stuck into the foam base, highlighting both brands’s focus on meticulous material research and techniques. ‘The whole project is based on fold and crease, designs that you can either squeeze, cramp, or bend. There’s going to be three more of these colored-skewer pieces in the same size, so the final product will contain around 50,000 skewers. I don’t know how much there is in here now, but these will be about this quantity soon,’ Bob Waardenburg, one third of the collective, tells designboom. Read the interview in full here.

saint laurent exhibits gio ponti’s architecturally inspired plates

Saint Laurent Rive Droite’s pavilion in the cloisters of San Simpliciano was a nod to Gio Ponti’s historic modernist architecture in Caracas. Curated by creative director Anthony Vaccarello for Milan Design Week 2024, the exhibition showcased a custom tableware collection originally conceived by the Italian architect and designer in 1953 for the Venezuelan Villa Planchart, alongside a collection of archives. In collaboration with Ginori 1735, Saint Laurent reintroduced twelve original plates from the Villa Planchart Segnaposto collection. Crafted using traditional techniques and enveloped with motifs nodding to the architectural design, the decorative porcelain plates were meticulously hand-painting at Ginori 1735’s Italian factory, preserving the essence of Ponti’s visionary design. Read more about the exhibition here. 

walking sticks & canes at Triennale di Milano

CESTINO by Hugo Passos | image © Julien Renault

Milan-based Japanese designer Keiji Takeuchi presents walking sticks & canes, an exhibition of 18 international designers in the Quadreria space at Triennale Milano during Milan Design Week 2024. As the title suggests it, the curator takes on the world of walking aids to unpack their history and relatively broad definition, which underwent unique evolutions in different eras. To do so, Takeuchi invites eighteen designers from around the globe to showcase a a variety of examples that question what walking sticks and canes represent in our lives. These walking aids are ‘a universal yet understated subject with limitless exploration potential. By conducting this research exhibition, we showcase 18 examples by designers I admire, aiming to share their thoughts on this subject and broaden our general awareness of this essential tool,’ he says. Read more about the exhibition here. 

bottega veneta honors Le Corbusier 

image courtesy of Bottega Veneta

For Milan Design Week 2024, Bottega Veneta honored Le Corbusier and his LC14 Tabouret Cabanon table design, originally conceived by the Swiss-French architect and designer for his personal cabin, or ‘cabanon,’ located in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin on the French Riviera. Matthieu Blazy and Bottega Veneta partnered with Cassina and Fondation Le Corbusier for the indoor installation, adding the architect and designer’s Cabanon stools, which dominated most of the exhibition space. Inside Palazzo San Fedele, which is slated to become the new Bottega Veneta headquarters starting in September 2024, visitors could see stacks of Le Corbusier’s cabanon stools, crafted in Bottega Veneta’s signature leatherwork and designed in a special charred-wood technique that draws on traditional Japanese methods. Each piece was meticulously enveloped in Bottega Veneta’s Intreccio foulard technique, meticulously hand-woven at the House’s artisanal atelier in Montebello, near Vicenza. Read more about the installation here.

prada frames by formafantasma

image © designboom

During Milan Design Week 2024, Prada unveiled the latest edition of Prada Frames, titled Being Home. Curated by Formafantasma, this multidisciplinary symposium explored the evolving relationship between the natural environment and design. Being Home reflected on the private sphere as more than just a space of comfort—it’s a dynamic refuge and an influential force shaping socioeconomic norms. Through collaborative efforts, the event delved into the complexities of contemporary domesticity, fostering dialogue on the evolving role of the home in modern society. 

design space alula by Sabine Marcelis and CLOUD

Saudi Arabia’s Design Space AlUla transported visitors to the ancient oasis city’s natural and cultural landscape right in the heart of Milan’s historic design district, Brera. Designed by Sabine Marcelis and CLOUD, the exhibition showcased a captivating array of furniture objects and accessories, all in dialogue with the Fuorisalone theme of Materia Natura. Illuminated by a monumental lighting resembling a sun, the space glowed with a golden warmth, casting its radiance upon the yellow surroundings. Below this sun-like lighting, modular seating systems awaited exploration, inviting visitors to experience the texture of their fabric. This collaboration sought to explore the rich material expressions and traditional crafts of the region, offering reinterpretations of its biodiversity, expansive desertscape, and cultural customs through diverse perspectives. 

Marc Newson new book launch

image © designboom

During Milan Design Week, designer Marc Newson unveils his latest masterpiece: Marc Newson: Works 84-24, a comprehensive book celebrating 40 years of his design journey. Published by TASCHEN, this tome showcases a diverse array of projects, spanning from mass-produced items to exclusive furniture pieces and unique superworks. Offering an in-depth survey of Newson’s remarkable career, the book features insightful quotes from the designer, intricately woven into the descriptions of his creations. 

gucci design ancora by Guillermo Santomà

image courtesy of Gucci

At Gucci’s flagship store in via Monte Napoleone in Milan, the House presented a special project celebrating the golden age of Italian design, from an idea of Creative Director Sabato De Sarno and co-curated by Michela Pelizzari from P:S. The five icons from a bygone era were showcased in an immersive exhibition conceived by architect Guillermo Santomà.

house of switzerland celebrates joy through design

image © DSL Studio

In a collective exhibition bringing together emerging designers, studios, universities, brands, and galleries from across the country, the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia and Presence Switzerland showcased a wealth of Swiss-related talents from the world of contemporary design. Split across three floors, with indoor and outdoor installations, the House draws from the country’s design heritage while addressing themes through a current lens and a future-focused vision during this year’s design week. Addressing this year’s project with an intrinsic curiosity, creatives were invited to explore their emotional connection to the design process. In contemplating the sentiments and feelings experienced on a collective and individual scale, immersive installations within the house and its surroundings invited us to reflect upon the contentment found through our connection to design topics like circularity, wellness, and nature. Read more abou the exhibition here. 

loewe’s new lamp collection

image courtesy of LOEWE

At Palazzo Citterio, LOEWE showcased a collection of lamps created by 24 artists and longstanding collaborators. Each piece in the collection revolves around light as its central medium, with the artists harnessing and manipulating its properties according to their unique artistic practices.

Porsche’s Patterns of Dreams installation

image © designboom

During Milan Design Week, Porsche made a striking return with an impressive outdoor installation in the courtyard of Palazzo Clerici. Named The Patterns of Dreams, the installation featured a towering structure intricately woven with rope-like lines reminiscent of spider web climbers found in playgrounds. Collaborating with the design collective Numen/For Use, Porsche’s initiative, The Art of Dreams, brought to life a network of lightweight systems comprising thin metal cells. The installation’s skin, composed of netting and ropes, was fluidly spread or stretched, maintaining a taut yet flexible quality that allowed it to bend and flow with the weight of individuals. During the preview, the Dutch sibling duo Imre and Marne van Opstal, along with their ensemble, orchestrated a mesmerizing dance performance within and above the net.

WE+ at palazzo litta

image courtesy of Fondazione Ermanno Casoli | photo © Antinori

In the courtyard of Palazzo Litta, the Japanese design studio we+ showcased their vibrant outdoor installation called Straordinaria. This eye-catching display features colorful layers of fabric gently swaying in the breeze, held down by circular plastic-like weights beneath each strand. Visitors were invited to wander through the installation, following a maze-like path to get a closer look at the materials. Straordinaria was a collaboration between Studio we+, Elica, and Fondazione Ermanno Casoli, curated by Marcello Smarrelli. Inspired by the lightness of clouds, the artwork aimed to evoke a sense of dynamism and radiance, utilizing airy materials to capture the flow of air and warmth. 

boonserm premthada headlines NOT compromised

elephant footprint seats | image courtesy of NOT COMPROMISED

Birgit Lohmann and Massimo Mini, founders and former directors of designboom, presented an exhibition exploring new societal models through art, architecture, and design. Directed by Pietro Mini and held at Liceo Classico Parini in Milan, NOT COMPROMISED invited the public to contemplate unconventional perceptions through works emphasizing sustainable solutions, including an outdoor collection made from elephant dung by Boonserm Premthada. The exhibition highlighted the non-anthropocentric coexistence of flora and fauna, advocating for a world where human presence safeguards rather than deteriorates. Read more about the exhibition here. 

⁠lasvit presents Re/Creation

image courtesy of Lasvit

Lasvit’s exhibition for Milan Design Week 2024 welcomed visitors with a striking outdoor installation in the courtyard of Palazzo Isimbardi. Named Re/Creation, the installation celebrates the unique properties of glass, the primary material used in its creation. Lasvit demonstrates how hot melted glass, allowed to relax and spread, can take on the shape or form of its surface or object. Alongside ‘Re/Creation’ stands another monumental piece titled ‘Porta,’ designed by Lasvit’s Art Director Maxim Velcovsky. This installation aims to highlight the relationship between glass and architecture, showcasing Lasvit’s expertise in artisanal glass facades. Crafted in Europe’s largest glass kiln, ‘Porta’ exemplifies how the brand adapts to the size and variability of glass while meeting the demands of architectural projects.

⁠Samsung’s Newfound Equilibrium

image courtesy of Samsung

At Milan Design Week 2024, Samsung Design debuted its newest exhibition, Newfound Equilibrium, epitomizing its dedication to reshaping the dynamic between humans and technology. This showcase blurred the lines separating the two entities, inviting visitors to envision a harmonious future where innovation seamlessly integrates with our lives. Against the backdrop of Le Cavallerizze, Milan, Samsung Design presented more than just an exhibition—it’s a profound exploration of the delicate balance between people and the digital.

Interiors by David Lynch at Salone del Mobile

image © designboom

Salone del Mobile.Milano presented an installation by American filmmaker David Lynch, in the form of two meditation rooms. Curated by Antonio Monda, the installation featured a series of empty rooms with a central armchair equipped for writing and painting, adorned with unsettling images chosen by Lynch. Lombardini22 designed the masterplan for maximum scenic impact. The project, in collaboration with Piccolo Teatro di Milano, invites solitary contemplation before engaging with the bustling atmosphere of the fair, preparing visitors for a more profound and reflective experience.

JR unveils la nascita at Milan Central Station

image © designboom

French artist JR has unveiled his monumental public installation, La Nascita, just outside Milan Central Station. The installation features a series of printed images of rock formations meticulously applied onto aluminum slats. On display from April 9th to May 1st, 2024, La Nascita marks JR’s inaugural venture into sculptural anamorphosis, departing from his traditional medium of paper and glue. In a conversation with designboom , JR discusses how the concept of anamorphosis, with its potential for distorted images and optical illusions, has long intrigued him and influenced his artistic practice. Read more about the installation and JR’s interview here. 

the seventh edition of Alcova

image © designboom

The seventh edition of Alcova unfolded inside and around two emblematic villas in the Milan metropolitan area: Villa Borsani and Villa Bagatti Valsecchi. From Junya Ishigami’s outdoor furniture series, to Objects of Common Interest’s evolving inflatable installation, both villas hosted a carefully curated selection of experimental designers, institutions, and a diverse program of talks and performances, all focused on exploring the future of living and design.