Ten design highlights from the Alcova exhibition in Milan

With over 100 exhibitors across four venues, there's a lot to see at this year's edition of Milan design week exhibition Alcova. Dezeen editor-at-large Amy Frearson picks 10 things that are not to be missed.

This is the second time that Alcova is taking place in Varedo, a town on the northern outskirts of Milan, but there are twice as many locations as last year.

In addition to Villa Borsani, a modernist villa from the 1940s, and Villa Bagatti Valsecchi, an 18th-century manor house, there are two new venues.

The first is the former SNIA factory, a ruined building once used for synthetic fibre production, while the second is Pasino Glasshouses, a greenhouse once home to one of Europe's largest white orchid cultivations.

Here are 10 of the best things to find there:

18 Drops of Sweat is an inflatable hammam

French studio Warm Weekend teamed up with designers Mathias Palazzi and Robinson Guillermet on this installation, on show in the former SNIA factory.

It forms part of a shower station designed for young migrant men, made from recycled bricks, tiles and textiles. The installation also includes a "tea salon" formed of mid-century-inspired furniture from Paris-based Galerie Boketto.

Burg Halle students turn recycled mattress covers into playful seating

In the same venue, Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle is presenting Toys, the results of a workshop with students from the German school's interior design programme.

The students were given cotton sheets and a stuffing made from recycled mattress covers. They used a range of upholstery techniques to transform them into their unusual seats.

Faye Toogood adds painted roses to Noritake porcelain

Over at Villa Borsani, Japanese ceramic producer Noritake is presenting the results of a collaboration with British designer Faye Toogood.

Toogood hand-painted roses directly onto porcelain, creating a series of artful plates, vases and jugs.

Completed Works transforms polystyrene into shiny silver furniture

London-based jewellery brand Completed Works has unveiled its first furniture collection at Villa Borsani, including a dressing table and coffee table with a knobby metallic finish.

Designer and brand artistic director Anna Jewsbury created the pieces by coating polystyrene in clay, then adding a silver nitrate mirror finish.

Lara Bohinc creates sculptural seating inspired by rolling hills

Over at Villa Bagatti Valsecchi, London-based Slovenian designer Lara Bohinc unveiled Anima, a collection of furniture designed in collaboration with French upholstery brand Maison Phelippeau.

Taking cues from rolling the hills, the Anima collection includes a sofa, armchair and occasional chair covered in pure alpaca wool. Accompanying them is the Dark Woods Table, a coffee table crafted from mahogany.

Forma Rosa combines digital design with handcraft to create biomorphic ceramics

New York-based Forma Rosa Studio has unveiled a series of ceramic lights with bulbous organic-inspired forms.

Designers Maria Castillo and Santiago Braby Brown use digital design tools to develop the unusual shapes, which are then crafted by hand by artisans in Peru.

Swollen is a collection of inflated metal objects by Yochiya

Copper plates were welded together then inflated with hydraulic pressure to form this collection of vases and sculptural objects, designed by Tokyo studio Yochiya.

Each piece has a unique patina, formed by applying a chemical solution to the metal with a paint brush.

Shakti Design Residency pairs emerging designers with skilled Indian craftspeople

Five emerging talents were paired with craft-led Indian brands in the first edition of this programme established by London-based interior architect Shalini Misra.

The results of the Shakti Design Residency include multi-textural hand-knotted rugs by textile designer Helena Bajaj Larsen and Jaipur Rugs, and a furry chandelier by Chinese designer Duyi Han and fashion label Tarun Tahiliani.

Rive Roshan's colour-changing installation doubles as a solar collector

Amsterdam-based Ruben de la Rive Box and Golnar Roshan have installed a striking solar panel in Villa Bagatti Valsecchi's garden fountain.

Sun Catcher was created using technology from SOL R&D, a startup specialising in "aesthetic photovoltaics". Its multicoloured surface appears to change colour as it catches the light in different ways.

Objects of Common Interest creates towering totems from Greek marble offcuts

Geometric blocks of Greek marble are stacked on top of another to form totemic sculptures in this installation by Objects of Common Interest, on show in the Pasino Glasshouses.

Soft Horizons showcases a range of different marbles, carved and polished in various shapes and textures.

See our Milan design week 2025 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks taking place throughout the week.

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