In anticipation of Milan Design Week and Salone del Mobile.Milano 2026, est editor Sophie Lewis shortlists 15 unmissable stops.
We’ve shaken up our approach to the hit list this year, with a concentrated selection of what we deem the headline acts: first-time collaborations, unseen archives, one-of-a-kind venues, and this year’s most sought-after designers. Be sure to read our dedicated digital Milan issue and highlights report, which will be released May 29, for a complete run down of what captivated throughout the week.
Photography by Piotr Niepsuj
(META)FISICA by cc-tapis & Fornasetti
Piazza Santo Stefano, 10
(META)FISICA sees contemporary Italian brand cc-tapis collaborate with heritage house Fornasetti on a new series of rugs that straddle the line between art and design; a space both brands have made their own. Named after a 32-panel Stanza Metafisica screen designed by Piero Fornasetti in 1958, the rugs will revive archival designs and surrealist imagery, enlivened by the handcraftsmanship of cc-tapis’ artisans. The exhibition, designed by Pablo Molezún and curated by Dan Thawley, will take place in the cc-tapis showroom on Piazza Santo Stefano. It also coincides with Fornasetti’s opening of its completely restyled flagship store on Corso Venezia, designed by Tutto Bene.
Photography by Aldo Ballo
Radical Home by The Italian Radical Design
Hall 22P, Booth B30, Fiera Milano, Rho
Italian Radical Design returns to Salone del Mobile.Milano 2026, under the umbrella of RADICAL HOME, blurring the worlds of Gufram, Memphis, and Meritalia into one joint presentation. Designed by (AB)NORMAL, with creative direction by Greta Cevenini, we are told to expect a “radical house” that allows Gufram’s surrealism, Memphis’ chromatic boldness and Meritalia’s material freedom to coexist in a domestic setting. Reissues by Marzio Cecchi, Luigi Bistagnino, and Masanori Umeda will be on show from Gufram and Memphis Milano, mingling with new releases by Faye Toogood and Objects of Common Interest from Meritalia.
Photography by Filippo Pincolini
Nilufar Grand Hotel
Viale Vincenzo Lancetti, 34
This year Nilufar Depot founder and curator Nina Yashar will transform her beloved home of collectable design into an imaginary hotel. “With Nilufar Grand Hotel, I wanted to imagine a place that doesn’t exist, yet feels profoundly real,” Yashar says. Vintage, contemporary and Nilufar Edition furnishings will find their place in three signature suites by david/nicolas, Filippo Carandini and Allegra Hicks. You can also peruse new collections by Bethan Laura Wood, Gal Gaon, Maximilian Marchesani, Derin Beren Yalcin, Georges Mohasseb, and Rooshad Shroff, debuting their work at the Depot. That’s without mention of a live painting performance by fashion designer and artist Rebecca Moses.
Photography by Yosigo, Rocafort, image courtesy of Kettal, 2026
The Eames Houses by the Eames Office and Kettal
Viale Emilio Alemagna, 6
Premiering during Milan Design Week, The Eames Office and Kettal have brought The Eames Houses to Triennale di Milano. Running until May 10, the exhibition is dedicated to Charles and Ray Eames’ pioneering residential architecture in the 1940s and 1950s, centred around the Eames’ own home (Case Study House No. 8), and the ideas of prefabrication and modular construction. Two full-scale reconstructions and newly commissioned scale models of eight houses, mostly unpublished, will be on display, supported by rare drawings, films and photographs from the Eames archive. The exhibition will then take the form of a book,The Eames Houses, released by Phaidon in June following its closure.
Photography by Carlotta Manaigo
Tales in Glass by Gallotti&Radice
Palazzo Meli Lupi di Soragna, Via Manin, 13
Since the 1950s, Italian brand Gallotti&Radice has devoted its furniture collections to the beauty of glass. Tales in Glass draws on this legacy for the brand’s 70th anniversary, while firmly focusing on the future with a female-led line-up of Special Editions. Alongside the brand’s iconic pieces, Tales in Glass will showcase new works by international designers Valentina Cameranesi, Ivania Carpio, Rania Hamed, Estudio Persona, Fumie Shibata, and Miminat Shodeinde, reinterpreting Gallotti&Radice’s signature material language. Hosted in the historic Palazzo Meli Lupi in Soragna, the exhibition is designed by Paris-based Sophie Dries.
Photography by Eline Willaert
Fluid Re-Collection by Linde Freya Tangelder for Cassina
Corso Como, 10
Building on the success of Linde Freya Tangelder’s previous collaborations with Cassina, the Dutch designer will present Fluid Re-Collection with the brand at Milan’s famed 10 Corso Como. When visiting her studio in 2025, as she prepared for the exhibition, Tangelder revealed her passion for bridging the worlds of collectable and commercial design. Fluid Re-Collection will do just that, as limited-edition pieces will be paired with serially produced furniture and lighting for Cassina—allowing visitors to witness how they interact and appreciate the dynamic, process-driven work across scales and disciplines.
Photography by Diego Ravier
EuroCucina: Technology for the Kitchen
Pavilions 2-4, Fiera Milano, Rho
For the biennial event EuroCucina, Pavilions 2 and 4 at Fiera Milano Rho ask kitchen brands to consider the hybridisation of contexts, new habits, the pull toward the outdoors, the need for sustainability in design, and the influence of artificial intelligence. Beyond kitchen appliances and complete kitchen systems, to be spotlighted in the June issue of est magazine, we’ll be making our way to Italian tapware brand FIMA Carlo Frattini. This visit comes in anticipation of the brand’s launch with Abey Australia in July, and to see their brand-new LOTO collection designed by Amsterdam-based studio CERIANI SZOSTAK.
Photography by Diego Ravier
L’Appartamento by Artemest
Palazzo Donizetti, Via Gaetano Donizetti, 48
Artemest has claimed the interiors of Palazzo Donizetti again for its fourth edition of L’Appartamento. This year, L’Appartamento has invited five international design studios to celebrate the grandeur of its 19th-century Milanese architecture, and to magnify the cultural impact of Italian cities Rome, Venice, Florence, Naples, and Palermo. North American design studio Charlap & Herrero (pictured) will be transforming the Entertainment Rooms in a tribute to Palermo’s 19th-century aristocratic salons and centuries-old craftsmanship, while Sasha Adler Design is transporting visitors to Venice in the Entrance and Reading Room.
Photography courtesy of Movimento
One, Two, Many by Movimento
Via Giuseppe Giacosa 37
Contemporary Milanese gallery Movimento will host seven Italian and international designers under the banner of One, Two, Many at its Via Giuseppe Giacosa 37 space. For the exhibition, the gallery developed a metallic finish and asked the participating designers, including French studio Corpus Studio, Chinese designer Chris Shao, and Italian studio LC Atelier, to create original pieces using the material. LC Atelier founder Lucrezia Calvi’s Geste stool (previewed here) will be unveiled, inspired by “gestures that define hospitality”.
Photography by Oskar Proctor, The World of Interiors, ©Condé Nast
Salone Raritas
Pavilions 9-11, Fiera Milano, Rho
For the first time, Salone del Mobile.Milano will welcome Salone Raritas: a platform for limited edition, expertly crafted pieces and antiques. The exhibition will be designed by none other than the research-based design studio Formafantasma and curated by the fair’s editorial director and cultural events advisor, Annalisa Rosso. As part of Salone Raritas, historic Italian design brand Paradisoterrestre will celebrate its founder, Dino Gavina and his vision for collectable design. Paradisoterrestre will present never-before-seen re-runs and pieces from their ‘Historic Design Selection’, calling on the spirit of 1970s design.
Photography by Luigi Fiano
Alcova
Baggio Military Hospital, Via Giovanni Labus, 10
Villa Pestarini, Via Mogadiscio, 2
Always rethinking the potential of group exhibition spaces for Milan Design Week, Alcova revisits the former Baggio Military Hospital this year for its eleventh edition. Having staged the event here in 2021 and 2022, the site will welcome visitors inside new areas to explore the work of exhibitors, including a church and a historic archive. At the same time, Alcova is offering access to Villa Pestarini, a private residence, that has never before been open to the public. Dating back to the late 1930s and serving as a case study in Italian Rationalism, it is the only villa designed by Franco Albini. Across these two locations, we’ve underlined Haworth and Cassina x Patricia Urquiola, Issé x Sophie Dries, Sister by Studio Ashby and Rive Roshan as names not to miss.
Photography by courtesy of Toogood
Material Anthology by Toogood at Casa Tacchini
Largo Treves, 5
We can all delight in more creative alchemy between London studio Toogood, founded by Faye Toogood—an inaugural est living Hall of Fame recipient this year—and Tacchini, at the Italian brand’s headquarters. Called Material Anthology, the site-specific installation will reconceive offcuts, samples, and raw materials from Tacchini’s archives as sculptures. “Materials are the starting point of everything we do at Toogood… I wanted to encourage Tacchini to explore their own jewellery box with the same curiosity,” Toogood says. The designer has also added new “slabs” to the BUTTER seating system for Tacchini in 2026: a non-sectional sofa, an armchair, and 15 new seating modules and storage options. “Sometimes you need to go no further than the breakfast table to find meaning,” Toogood muses.
Photography courtesy of Muller Van Severen
Silhouettes: Celebrating 15 Years by Muller Van Severen
Via Filippino Lippi, 4
Belgian design duo Muller Van Severen are joining forces with Spanish interiors publication Apartamento and Antwerp-Rome-based Tim Van Laere Gallery to celebrate their 15th anniversary with an exhibition, Silhouettes: Celebrating 15 Years, and the release of a new book titled A Lot of Work. Each year will be represented by a life-size, coloured candle, used to ‘symbolise slow and irreversible transformation’. The candles will be embedded in aluminium forms—shapes inverted, rotated, or enclosed—that function as silhouettes of the chairs, cabinets, lamps, vases, and sculptural structures from the early, solo practices of both designers. In the same way, the monograph chronicles how the designers’ separate paths intersect, giving rise to the practice’s unique and recognisable body of work.
Photography by David Raffoul
La Boiserie by david/nicolas
Via San Maurilio, 19
With bases in Milan, Beirut, and San Francisco, david/nicolas is opening the design studio’s project space in the city’s 5VIE district this year for La Boiserie. Described as a modular system of panels, La Boiserie is the result of research into architectural surfaces, interiors, and material details, centring on geometric motifs and the wall as an architectural feature. “Inaugurating our Milan studio with La Boiserie feels both natural and deeply personal… the project reflects years of research and instinctive exploration,” david/nicolas co-founder David Raffoul says. “We envision it growing as an independent entity…marking the beginning of a new chapter for us,” he adds.
Photography courtesy of studioutte
CAMERA FISSA by studioutte and De Troupe
Via Volturno, 45
This year, we’re excited to step inside Milanese designers studioutte’s space again— recognised in our esteemed 10 for 2026—this time for an installation in collaboration with furniture and lighting brand De Troupe. studioutte are known for finding inspiration in the world of cinema, and, combined with the codes of a private club, the space will unfold as an immersive experience within a textile environment developed in collaboration with Dedar. While continuing atmospheric research from last year, Camera Fissa will also be the venue for the launch of Edition no.1, De Troupe’s new furniture collection, alongside the Velarion lighting collection, designed by Studioutte for De Troupe.
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