From Philippe Starck’s latest installation to Es Devlin’s poetry in the Library of Light, consider this your map to avoiding the annual FOMO
Spring is here. Flowers are blooming, and the streets of Milan start to feel alive again, filled with people enjoying the warmer weather. After a long Winter, many are finally emerging from their homes to sip on a Negroni Sbagliato and partake in a classic aperitivo. However, this season is not just about flowers and drinks and warm weather; it also marks the arrival of Design Week.
The city’s excitement builds in the days leading up to the most important week in the world of design. Everyone from iconic studios to independent designers, and even the Italian supermarket chain Esselunga this year, is busy preparing their booths, showrooms, exhibitions, and pop-up events. Attending Design Week in Milan means accepting that you will likely miss more than you manage to see. This year’s Fuorisalone alone features over 800 events, which can be overwhelming even for seasoned designers, let alone for those new to this dynamic scene..
Of course, exploring the city without a plan can be a truly beautiful experience. You can enjoy the stunning palazzos and casually wander into small shops showcasing exceptional Italian craftsmanship or find yourself in a design district, meeting like-minded individuals as you follow the crowd. However, if this feels overwhelming (and I can’t blame you!), don’t worry. Consider using the guide below as your designer-approved map to both the must-see attractions and the hidden gems of Milan Design Week 2025.
- BASE
We Will Design 2025: Making Kin
7-13 April
34, Via Bergognone
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BASE opens its doors to a temporary community of designers, architects, and artists to foster new connections. Nine international universities will bring their visions of design as research and experimentation to the centre, exploring themes such as secret floral messages, studies on interspecies kinship and more. The main question they will be asking is: what if design could reveal hidden languages, rethink citizenship, or transform the way we build, live, and interact?
Here are my personal picks to view at BASE:
- Homes Away From Home: Finding Belonging Through Food Spaces
Anas Chao explores the sense of belonging through restaurants and food spaces, turning consumption into an act of memory and identity. - Le Cannibale X We Will Design
Tama Sumo b2b Lakuti (All Night Long)
Le Cannibale takes over BASE Design Week with two unmissable nights of cutting-edge electronic music. - Eleni Vrettakou – Hyperthermal Tales
Stories Beyond the Thermal Border
This project documents how climate shapes behaviours and ecosystems, revealing a delicate balance between human and non-human actors. Humans are portrayed in dual roles: both predators and caretakers, capable of preserving and adapting to nature while also forcibly altering it.
- MUJI MUJI 5∙5
8-13 April
Corso Garibaldi 89 A
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Designers Claire Renard and Jean-Sébastien Blanc, the co-founders of Studio 5•5 and recognised as pioneers of upcycling in France, have designed a Manifesto House for MUJI, drawing inspiration from Japanese architecture. This innovative and creative solution emphasises the importance of finding serenity amidst the hustle and bustle of city life.
Rather than simply drawing a beautiful house, 5•5 aims to design “slices of life” that can be combined to create a personalised home.
- DROP CITY
Beautiful Mistakes
4 April - 10 June
Via Sammartini 38-60
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Starting April 4 and running until June 10, Dropcity’s 2025 will present Beautiful Mistakes, curated and moderated by Benjamin Gallegos Gabilondo. The Dropcity Auditorium will host a series of dialogues featuring architects and designers who will share their methodologies and the research behind their practices.
My personal pick:
- Tunnel 40 - Robin Winogrond + Vera Scaccabarozzi (RSL)
Robin Winogrond, a landscape architect and urban designer from Zurich, Switzerland, participates in juries, lectures, publishing and teaching at prestigious institutions such as Harvard GSD, The Bartlett, and Oslo School of Architecture. Her work expresses the site-specific and poetic potential of residual places, transforming their inherent identities and contradictions into powerful social and atmospheric experiences.
- DESIGN HOLDS MEMORIES
7-13 April
58, Via della Moscova
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During Milan Design Week 2025, Smeg and Istituto Marangoni Milano Design will present Design Holds Memories, an interdisciplinary project exploring the connection between design and memory.
Young talents have transformed the iconic FAB28 refrigerator into a visual, interactive, and digital narrative, creating an immersive experience that invites visitors to journey between the past and the future.
- ALCOVA
7-13 April
Villa Borsani, 148, Via Umberto I, Varedo
Villa Bagatti, 48, Via Vittorio Emanuele II, Varedo
Pasino Glasshouses, 54, Via Vittorio Emanuele II, Varedo
SNIA Factory
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Alcova has become a key highlight of the Fuorisalone in the past few years, making it a must-visit during Design Week. This year, along with the historic residences of Villa Borsani and Villa Bagatti Valsecchi, Alcova introduces two new locations: the former SNIA Factory and the Pasino Glasshouses. These additions provide a raw, layered backdrop where nature has begun to reclaim its space.
- La Prima Notte di Quiete
7-13 April
33, Via della Moscova
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Loro Piana and Dimoremilano present La Prima Notte di Quiete, an immersive installation that explores the boundary between reality and cinematic suggestion. Set in the Cortile della Seta, this elegantly furnished home features pieces designed for Loro Piana by Dimoremilano, including Dimoremilano furniture adorned with fabrics by the luxury fashion brand, as well as vintage and art objects. The space comes alive with its sounds and atmosphere, creating an environment of calm and beauty that welcomes, protects, and fascinates.
- Library of Light
7-21 April
28, Via Brera
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A monumental kinetic installation located within the Pinacoteca di Brera, Library of Light reflects a phrase by Umberto Eco that came to the artist Es Devlin’s mind as she climbed the tall shelves of the Braidense National Library: “Books are the compass of the mind, they point to countless worlds yet to be explored.”
Devlin’s luminous rotating sculpture is located in the centre of the 17th-century Cortile d’Onore, which connects the Pinacoteca di Brera, the Braidense National Library and the Academy of Fine Arts.
- WAR FLAGS by Philippe Starck
7-17 April
Orto Botanico di Brera, 28, Via Brera
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Anticipating the possibility of a future global conflict, Phillippe Starck, in collaboration with Babinet & Co, has envisioned the Hate Unlimited Korporation—a company dedicated to promoting hate throughout the world, especially in its most unrestricted forms.
In this unique immersive installation, which blurs the lines between reality and dystopia, Philippe Starck passionately criticises the forces and violence at play in the emerging new world order. He urges the public to take a stand and take action.
In an interview for Interni Magazine, the designer stated, “It is a political statement as much as a call to awaken consciences and act together.”
- MoscaPartners Variations
7-13 April
24, Corso Magenta
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MoscaPartners Variations is an exhibition organised by MoscaPartners, and this year’s theme explores design as a catalyst for cultural exchange and creative innovation. The exhibition transforms the historic venue of Palazzo Litta into a dynamic space for experimentation and discovery.
- Blond x Harry's – Double Vision
7-13 April
8, Via Palermo
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London-based industrial design studio BLOND collaborates with New York-based grooming brand Harry’s on an exhibition that examines the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the design process. BLOND and Harry’s will invite visitors to follow the design development of two facial steamers: one created by BLOND using, wherever possible, only AI tools and another produced by Harry’s with ‘traditional’ design processes known and widely adopted within the industry.
Constanza Coscia
Editor and Alumna, Milan