discover the images of the most anticipated events at DW Milan

Alcova is always a highly anticipated event of Milan Design Week, visited each year by more than 90,000 people. It is a platform for designers, businesses, institutions and researchers who question the future of life and action. It was founded in 2018 by Valentina Ciuffi (Studio Vedèt) and Joseph Grima (Space Caviar) and takes place every year in a new venue in the city or its surroundings, usually in a historic village where each designer occupies a room to present their creations in a very unique and innovative way.

This year, in its seventh edition, the exhibition will take place in two of the most extraordinary villas in the Milan metropolitan area: Villa Borsani and Villa Bagatti Valsecchi.

Villa Borsani is a modernist architectural masterpiece by Osvaldo Borsani, completed in 1945. It is very reminiscent of a Brazilian house, interior in Lina Bo Bardi style.

1. Villa Bugatti Valsecchi

Villa Bagatti Valsecchi was built for a Milanese noble family, who used it as a summer residence to escape the heat of the city and entertain guests and friends. It is the largest between the two and where the greatest number of designers are concentrated!

2. Villa Borsani

Villa Borsani is a modernist architectural masterpiece by Osvaldo Borsani, completed in 1945. It is very reminiscent of a Brazilian house, interior in Lina Bo Bardi style.

Alcova 2024 Highlights

3. Bitossi

Italian brand that has launched 6 colors of artisanal ceramics inspired by the columns of Greek temples.

4. Econitwood

German brand that combines ecological responsibility and digital design using 3D printing – scrap wood is combined with minerals to form a new material which takes the form of an armchair, a table and lamps.

5. and

Canadian brand of lighting with original designs

6. PET lamp

Project that reinvents PET bottles by transforming them into unique lighting pieces thanks to basketry carried out as a social action in several countries around the world such as Colombia, Chile, Ethiopia, Japan, Thailand and now Ghana, where the shape of the lamp was based on the architectural plan of a traditional house typical of the region of the 6 weavers who created the tapestry that gave birth to the lamp.

7. De Marchi

Italian brand of porcelain tiles with unique shapes and colors.

8. Terraforms

Laboratory for experimental design and research on terracotta with the aim of exploring the potential of clay.

9. Fabien Freytag

German designer who designed table lamps with marble, wood and metal bases.

10. Pulpopolis

Created by New York designer Kickie Chudikova, these are battery-powered murano lamps that resemble jellyfish.

Brera is a district of Milan that hosts one of the largest design week districts with more than 225 events. Many of them are linked to brands from the fashion world, which enter the world of design by launching furniture collections. This is also where visitors can enter addresses that are not open during the year, such as typical Milanese apartments, palaces, cortillas, etc.

1. Orsini Palace – Casa Armani

During Milano Design Week, Giorgio Armani opens the doors of Palazzo Orsini, the brand’s historic headquarters, to present the new Armani/Casa collection, entitled Echi dal Mondo (Echoes of the World) and inspired by the atmospheres, colors and shapes collected by the designer during his travels or found during his research.

4. Lode Exhibition Hall

Lodes is a Venetian lighting brand with over 70 years of experience. And during this edition of design week, he presented his latest collections in his showroom, such as the Oblò lamps, designed by Paola Navone of Otto Studio, the Volum line designed by the famous Norwegian architectural firm Snøhetta or the lamps designed by Taiwanese designer Chia-Ying Lee.

Thanks to a territory rich in industrial tradition that merges with the contemporary soul dedicated to research, the Design Week of the Tortona region attracts each year emerging projects, young designers from all over the world and – increasingly – also major brands. Smaller neighborhood with around 25 facilities, some of which are worth highlighting, such as:

1. Nardi Exterior

An oasis of peace and leisure. This is precisely how Nardi’s creative director designed the Otium garden: an indoor and outdoor green space where the company has placed its new arrival, the Maximo modular sofa. Nardi invites you to interpret the moment of rest as a regenerative opportunity. The garden is full of thin vertical mirrors and small waterfalls which amplify the regenerating effect, an interior space where you can listen to a few verses of poetry and a tea room where you can take a break.

2. IKEA – First

IKEA presents for the first time in Padiglione Visconti, a showcase to ignite dreams and inspire memories with the concept of the first time, the first moments experienced in the unforgettable spaces of our homes. The communication was well targeted at Generation Z and Millennials, with an emphasis on the first house, the first move, the first party, the first love.

3. Hybridization – Zaha Hadid Design x Karimoku

A collaboration between British design firm Zaha Hadid Design and Japanese furniture brand Karimoku, the Hybridation exhibition showcases new and existing wooden furniture during Milan Design Week. The exhibition highlights the Seyun series – including a chair, armchairs and a table. Since then, the two brands have expanded the collection with a stool, an armchair and a tray.

4. We will design – Base Milano

The cultural center inhabited by Italian and international artists and designers who showcase the best of architectural research and design experiences from around the world during Design Week. This year’s theme, The Coexistence Laboratory, invites us to reflect on innovative practices of coexistence, cohabitation and sharing.