Milan Design Week: an insider guide by curator and critic Milovan Farronato

This article is part of a guide to Milan from FT Globetrotter

Rome may be the capital of Italy, but Milan is certainly the capital of design. Since the early 20th century, Italy’s business and financial hub has been at the forefront of innovative design, an inspirational stamping ground for the likes of seminal furniture designer Osvaldo Borsani to architect Gio Ponti, one of the forefathers of the skyscraper. 

Although the city flaunts its style all year round, each spring this creative spirit bubbles to the surface more effervescently: Milan Design Week returns this week, alongside the famed furniture fair Salone del Mobile Milano (both are on until April 21). With more than 1,300 events to choose from spread across the city, I’ve shared some of my highlights, from neighbourhood design hubs to where to take in the latest trends.

My top picks

In the heart of the city at Stazione Milano Centrale, the renowned French street artist JR with his new installation “La Nascita” (The Birth) has transformed the railway station’s facade and adjacent Piazza Duca d’Aosta into a rocky landscape. This monumental trompe-l’oeil (until May 1) blurs the boundaries of time and place, fashioning a surreal architectural fantasy that draws a link between the grandeur of the station today and its history.

Moncler transforms the interior of the station into one of the largest galleries open to the public, with an immersive exhibition titled An Invitation to Dream (until April 21). Composed of film and photography by Jack Davison, the project, which features contemporary artists and influential creatives such as singer Rina Sawayama, Ruth Rogers of London’s River Cafe and artist and filmmaker Julianknxx, among others, is aimed at inspiring travellers to dream big on their journeys.

A stone’s throw away, in Via Gasparotto, is a show I have curated at the Zazá Gallery that is dedicated to two female Neapolitan contemporary artists, SAGG Napoli and Betty Bee. The exhibition draws together their irreverent and provocative visual statements that respond and complement each other, exploring questions around contemporary feminism.

Key areas to visit

A few hundred metres from the Duomo, you’ll find the medieval cloisters of the University of Milan (known as Statale), which for seven days are home to installations from Italian design magazine Interni, which is an ideal place to start exploring. More than 40 exhibitions and installations from designers representing a dozen nationalities are spread throughout Statale and other locations around the city centre, including the Brera Botanical Garden. Look out for “sunRICE: The Recipe for Happiness”, designed by the CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati studio and the late Italian architect Italo Rota, which is a fascinating exploration of how rice waste can become a raw material for a new and sustainable architecture. 

Brera and Durini are two design districts where you can’t help but join the curious crowd swarming through countless courtyards and showrooms made glitzy for the occasion. Between Via Durini, Via Borgogna and Largo Augusto, and between Via Palermo and Corso Garibaldi, snooping around is an obligation and a privilege.

I also recommend a trip to the Tortona District (metro stop M2 Porta Genova) for the Walk of Design, which takes visitors through the significant and historic design highlights of the neighbourhood, from Via Tortona to Via Savona and Via Bergognone. BASE, a hybrid cultural centre, is another must-see: this year, the installations reflect on the most innovative practices in cohabitation today, including a bed suspended between floor and ceiling. Come evening, BASE offers an exciting programme of live DJ sets featuring international artists such as Skee Mask + Hiroko Hacci and Dekmantel Soundsystem + Fabio Monesi. 

Design Week trends

The temporary metamorphosis of former industrial buildings and abandoned spaces into exhibition sites remains a popular trend. This year, Design Variations (Via Gorizia 14), a collective project by MoscaPartners, transforms a 1940s garage designed by the Modernist architect Marco Zanuso with a vibrant site-specific work by artist and designer Nathalie Du Pasquier, made of decorative panels with geometric graphics and bright chromatic contrasts. Urban industrial design can also be seen at Lampo Milano (Via Valtellina 5), a recent redevelopment project inside Scalo Farini, a historic railyard in the trendy Isola neighbourhood, which is worth visiting for its independent art galleries, artisanal shops and nightclubs. 

Even secret courtyards and historic buildings are reimagined through the revitalising force of contemporary design, including some that are usually inaccessible to the public. Palazzo Litta (Corso Magenta 24) opens to the public this year, becoming home to several brilliant installations including Sara Ricciardi’s “Under the Willow Tree”, an immersive work composed of curved willow branches that reverberate with acoustics to guide visitors with its gentle movements. 

Not far away, be sure to visit the late architect-artist Gaetano Pesce’s “L’Uomo Stanco” (The Tired Man), a monumental installation in Piazza Pio XI, near the , that explores fatigue and modern masculinity. Inside the Ambrosiana, which is famous for holding Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Atlanticus, you can also find 30 of Pesce’s recent pieces as part of Nice to See You, a posthumous homage to the recently deceased artist’s luminous vision. 

The future of design

In Porta Venezia, a vibrant neighbourhood that is part of the centro storico, the theme of diversity is explored in EverythinK Is Design, in which young talents amplify inclusion at the heart of their projects. Among them, “Nook” by Mara Bragagnolo, in the Porta Venezia Library, offers innovative furnishings to ensure that neurodiverse children are able to freely express themselves with multifunctional, adaptable pieces that reflect their individual modalities.

Then there is a neighbourhood that becomes a project itself, focusing on the culture of co-operation and integration that is already part of its DNA. Milan’s Chinatown (Via Paolo Sarpi), active during Design Week at the Chinese Cultural Centre, the ADI Design Museum, and Fabbrica del Vapore cultural centre, presents various exhibitions dedicated to design, architecture and digital art.

Speaking of Fabbrica del Vappore, this creative hub housed in a former industrial complex will also be hosting a music festival this year, created by Milanese DJ and producer Lele Sacchi, with guest artists including the Palestinian techno DJ Sama’ Abdulhadi.

Salone del Mobile

Salone del Mobile, one of the most important global exhibitions dedicated to design, opens to the general public on April 20 and 21. It is an engine of growth and experimentation for Milan’s broader ecosystem, from universities and research institutions, to local businesses and civic society organisations.

The 2024 edition, which also hosts the EuroCucina biennial exhibition showcasing kitchen products, will bring together more than 1,900 exhibitors, including 600 young talents under the age of 35 and 22 design schools. It also includes an increasingly impressive cultural programme (once again orbiting around epicentres such as the arena and bookshop by designers Formafantasma), with the participation of the 2022 Pritzker Prize laureate Francis Kéré and an installation by film director David Lynch.

Milano Design Week and Salone del Mobile are on now until April 21

Milovan Farronato is an independent critic and curator and one of the Design Week ambassadors for YesMilano

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