Design is Act: the district expands across new urban geographies, research, and diffuse installations
With Fuorisalone, scheduled from April 20 to 26, 2026, Porta Venezia Design District returns with Design is Act, a concept inspired by the thinking of Tomás Maldonado: an invitation to consider design as action—a gesture capable of connecting thought and matter, memory and future, imagination and real impact. Following the success of the previous edition, the district expands its urban and cultural scope. The numbers tell a story of growth: over 80,000 visitors, a 33% increase compared to 2024, 56 projects and installations (+24%), and more than 350 designers and curators from around the world. This evolution takes shape in 2026 with the launch of Città Studi Design Hub, a new center extending the district into the city’s university area and fostering direct dialogue between design, research, and education. A territory historically linked to scientific and academic innovation becomes, during Design Week, an open laboratory for design experimentation.
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© Tommaso Mariniello
The debut of Città Studi Design Hub is marked by a large site-specific installation: OVER and OVER and OVER and OVER by the design brand 6:AM - GLASSWORKS, hosted in the historic Piscina Romano. The project reflects on repetition as the invisible structure of everyday life and as a driver of the creative process, placing the craftsmanship of glass and the relationship between gesture, material, and transformation at its core.
© INSIEME, Ph. Enrico Costantini
Among the key players of Milan Design Week is Vanity Fair, which presents Archivio Italia, a new cultural project dedicated to the human stories behind Italian craftsmanship and manufacturing excellence. The first chapter takes shape in the exhibition INSIEME, conceived and curated by Sabato De Sarno at Piscine Cozzi, accompanied by an urban intervention by French artist JR, who brings the faces of the artisans featured in the project onto the building’s façade.
At Spazio Maiocchi, IKEA presents Food for Thought, an immersive installation exploring the relationship between design, food, and conviviality through environments created in collaboration with international designers and chefs. The project reflects on how design can transform everyday rituals of cooking and sharing, integrating sustainability, accessibility, and food culture.
At Palazzo Senato, Škoda Auto presents Ooooh, that’s EpiQ!, an immersive installation that redefines mobility as both a cultural and technological experience. Blending scenography and storytelling, the project unfolds as a narrative journey where innovation, sustainability, and visual languages intersect, offering an accessible yet contemporary take on automotive design.
Renaissance of the Real is the installation presented at Fondazione Luigi Rovati by USM Modular Furniture in collaboration with Snøhetta. Conceived by Swiss artist Annabelle Schneider, the project invites visitors to slow down and rediscover the sensory dimension of the body in an age dominated by digital hyperconnection. At the center of the space, the USM Haller modular structure becomes an architecture supporting a soft textile membrane, creating a sort of immersive “cocoon.”
© GEELY Anima Mundi by Dotdotdot
At Fondazione Istituto dei Ciechi, the studio Dotdotdot creates Anima Mundi for Geely Auto, a large-scale installation exploring the relationship between technology, nature, and the human dimension through sound, light, and interaction, transforming the space into a dynamic organism that responds to visitors’ presence.
Among the district’s curatorial platforms, DEORON stands out with Factory Eleven, a collective exhibition bringing together over fifty designers, independent studios, and international companies working across furniture, lighting, homeware, and technology. The project takes place in a large industrial space of approximately 800 square meters at via Padova 11—formerly a ball bearing factory—reactivated for the first time as a cultural venue, where industrial production, design research, and collectible design converge in a narrative dedicated to contemporary experimentation.
Movimento Gallery, at via Giacosa 37, presents One, Two, Many, a group exhibition featuring Italian and international designers invited to engage with a metallic finish specially developed by the gallery. The exhibition design creates an immersive, material environment that stages objects through light, sound, and installation, accompanied by a critical text by Federica Sala and a sound intervention by the studio Hidden Mountain. The district also hosts YOOX CAMERINO | UNVEILED BY KETA BART, an immersive installation created with Viennese digital artist Keta Bart, reinterpreting the fitting room as a space for exploring personal identity through experiential design, digital art, and artificial intelligence.
© Eccentrico
In the heart of the neighborhood, Electrolux presents The Swedish Home, an environment inspired by Swedish domestic culture, where simplicity, well-being, and connection with nature become central elements of the design experience, accompanied by talks, workshops, and moments of conviviality. Material and perception are at the core of The Sensory Lab, a project by Sara Ricciardi for Eccentrico, transforming ceramics into a sensory language capable of activating gestures, everyday rituals, and new spatial relationships.
© L'Appartamento by Artemest, Palazzo Donizetti
Among the district’s highlights is also L’Appartamento by Artemest, hosted at Palazzo Donizetti, where international designers and interior designers reinterpret the rooms of a Milanese residence through a selection of furniture, lighting, and objects crafted by Italian master artisans, offering a contemporary reading of the country’s manufacturing heritage.
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