Dezeen's pick of the best grassroots shows from Milan design week
Milan design week might have reached peak brandification this year, but there were still plenty of outstanding independent exhibitions to be found in the margins. Below, the Dezeen team shares nine of its favourites.
The citywide festival surrounding furniture fair Salone del Mobile, which took place last week, has faced criticism for being overrun with flashy brand presentations while independent designers are struggling to show amid rising rents and fierce competition.
Below, we've collated a roundup of some of our favourite independent shows, including entire exhibitions dedicated to chopsticks and doorknobs, plus two different shows that reimagine the kitchen.
Ghost Kitchen by Soft Baroque for Uppercut
chosen by Jane Englefield, design and interiors reporter
"Milan design week is known for presenting furniture exhibitions in striking site-specific locations, from 16th-century palazzos to abandoned rationalist pool houses.
"It was interesting, then, to see a furniture show respond to a much more understated context, a small hole-in-the-wall space in Porta Venezia where London studio Soft Baroque staged a kitchen scene in collaboration with design gallery Uppercut.
"From intricately patterned chipboard cabinetry to a continuously flowing tap and a wall-mounted fold-up chair, the pieces formed a pleasing selection of design that was subtly tucked away from the frenzy of activity outside."
Chopsticks by S–3
chosen by Max Fraser, editorial director
"Every so often, a specific product is put under the spotlight and reinterpreted by a curated group of designers. In this case, East Asia's most iconic and oldest design typologies – the humble chopsticks – were given an overhaul by eleven product designers from China, Japan and South Korea. As one might expect, the results were charming and varied.
"Curated by journalist and consultant Yoko Choy, the showcase was the first from S–3, a new platform for East Asian design. Designers such as We+, +Niceworkshop, Sae Honda, Kuo Duo and Jin Kuramoto challenged or simply reinvigorated the globally recognised object, often with wit.
"The exhibition was pure in concept, simple in display, immediately accessible and brought smiles to everyone who entered the small gallery space. A particular favourite was Jin Kuramoto's chopstick-shaped pasta."
7+1 Acts of Survival by The Line
chosen by Jennifer Hahn, design and environment editor
"In an unassuming hallway, hidden away in a 19th-century industrial depot in Porta Venezia, the inaugural exhibition from Milanese design gallery The Line brought together some of the week's most evocative pieces.
"Lined up in a row were mediations from seven architects on the theme of survival, among them an under-the-radar contribution from Japanese starchitect Kengo Kuma. But for me, the real stars of the show were two Levantine studios.
"Palestinian duo AAU Anastas presented an assembly of single-legged tables that can only stand upright when they lean on each other — a poignant metaphor that needs no explanation.
"Nearby, Lebanese architect Bernard Khoury presented a table riddled with stone bullets to visualise the unlikely life story of a fighter in the country's bloody civil war, the 999 games of Russian Roulette he survived and the one that killed him."
A Bunch of Knobs by Zaccaria Slater
chosen by Jane Englefield, design and interiors reporter
"There is a quiet but steadily growing trend for pop-up exhibitions with no fixed venue during design weeks, highlighting the mounting cost of venue rentals that creatives are up against in major cities.
"Spearheaded by London-based Zaccaria Slater, A Bunch of Knobs is an example of one of these presentations. Slater invited 50 emerging designers to create their interpretation of the humble doorknob and fixed them to a single white door, which travelled around various Milanese streets throughout the week.
"Conceived to highlight Slater's belief that 'everyone should be able to get their foot in the door of the design world', the project was a deft way of drawing attention to the difficulties that young designers face when seeking visibility.
"From a cluster of HB pencils to an unnerving and possibly impractical lock of hair, the doorknobs were also a fun reminder of just how varied an everyday object can become under the stewardship of a curious designer."
Over and Over and Over and Over by 6AM
chosen by Amy Frearson, editor-at-large
"For the second year in a row, I began my Milan design week in an abandoned swimming pool, looking at the colourful, whimsical and experimental glass designs of locally based studio 6AM. Luckily, there wasn't a hint of déjà vu.
"The exhibition showed just how far this studio, led by designers Edoardo Pandolfo and Francesco Palù, has come in the past 12 months. After the basement of the modest Piscina Cozzi, it took place in the larger and more light-filled spaces of Piscina Guido Romano.
"Here, the duo showed the vast scope of their Murano-rooted glass expertise. A wall of giant cubes offered surprising colours and opacities, while towers of textured black glass had an otherworldly quality."
Civicity by Nieuwe Instituut
chosen by Rima Sabina Aouf, contributing editor
"It may not have been as attention-grabbing as the 2024 New Store pop-up where they turned haircuts into textiles, but Rotterdam's Nieuwe Instituut once again brought a thought-provoking moment to Milan design week with Civicity.
"The exhibition showcased the first year of residencies from the museum's Redesigning Design Weeks programme, which looks at design weeks a bit like Olympics – events that bring energy and economic activity to a city, but whose benefits aren't necessarily evenly distributed.
"This is actually more fun than it sounds. The showcased first-year projects, both developed in communities in Milan's outskirts, take the form of initiatives such as the Pizzeria of Promises, a mobile pizzeria where teen migrants can share their cooking skills and join diners in conversations about life's expectations and disappointments.
"It was one of Milan's most down-to-earth exhibitions as well as one of its most delicious."
The Kitchen by Missing Objects
chosen by Jennifer Hahn, design and environment editor
"The latest edition of research project Missing Objects saw 19 young designers pair up across borders to create eight different objects that offer small but insightful adaptations of everyday kitchen tools.
"Standouts include a two-sided carafe designed to encourage sharing, an extractor fan that doubles as a diffuser and a set of measuring tools, from a teaspoon up to a four-litre jug, which can be satisfyingly nested on top of each other to create a decorative column (above).
"The participating designers originally met while studying in London but have since dispersed back across the globe — to Italy, Kazakhstan, Côte d'Ivoire and beyond. Missing Objects offers them a yearly chance to reunite and proves that no matter the state of the world, design remains a universal language."
Soft Metals by Ragno Cose and Boris Peianov
chosen by Cajsa Carlson, deputy editor
"If you didn't know where it was, you might have easily missed the Soft Metals show, held in a storefront space in east Milan. But that would have been a shame, as the tiny show was a bit of a treasure trove for metal lovers.
"Proving that stainless steel, aluminium and other gleaming materials are still going strong at Milan design week, Soft Metals featured pieces by designers including Anoe Melliou and Chris Fusaro.
"Curated by Ragno Cose with architect Boris Peianov, the exhibition also had a 'scentscape' created by fragrance studio En Doft. Overall, it set a shining example for what you can do with a small space and some clever designs."
Face Value by Studiomama
chosen by Max Fraser, editorial director
"Studiomama's Nina Tolstrop and Jack Mama are known for making characterful objects from humble materials and this show focused on Nose Hooks and Face Shelves – non-complicated wooden hooks and mini shelves.
"Each of their objects was displayed simply in Milan's tiny Small Small Spaces gallery. You couldn't help but be enamoured by the faces designed into their function – certain to make you smile alongside the inimitable Nina and Jack, who remained on standby for a chat.
"Refreshingly for Milan design week, this exhibition didn't profess to be anything other than what it was; a tiny showcase of modest and playful objects that you could embrace purely at face value. More of this, please."
Oasis by Rick Tegelaar
chosen by Amy Frearson, editor-at-large
"The work of Dutch designer Rick Tegelaar occupies a rare sweetspot between technical precision and material lightness. For his first solo show in Milan, in the cooling calm of an indoor jungle, I was thrilled to see he had flexed his talents to full, joyful effect.
"Staged in collaboration with floral designer Plants in Paradise, the show featured a series of scenographies combining large-scale light installations with tropical plants.
"Among the offerings was an illuminated tunnel made from Tegelaar's lattice-effect Tabby system, a new lighting collection made from bent plywood and copper tape, and a glass work that emulated the dynamic reflections of light on rippled water."
Milan design week took place in Milan from 20 to 26 April 2026. See Dezeen Events Guide for more architecture and design events around the world.
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