Milan unfolds like a grand thesis, each exhibition is a proposition in bold gestures and material experiments. For designers, artists, journalists, and brands alike, it’s a relentless terrain of discovery—electrifying yet unceasing. And yet, amidst this surge, the moments that endure are those of genuine connection: a fine detail, an understated concept, a quiet idea that resonates beyond the spectacle.

Below, we share our “ohs” and “ahs”—presentations that moved us from observation to understanding. This isn’t a checklist of “must‑sees,” but a subjective curation shaped by instinct, emotional resonance, and the ambience that linger long after the lights dim.

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Alcova - Poetry of the Forgotten

Sunlight and greenery filter through the skeletal glasshouse of Villa Bagatti Valsecchi’s old orchid greenhouses, one of Alcova 2025’s evocative venues. In this overgrown enclave, design installations converse quietly with the ghosts of past blooms. Alcova 2025 unfolds like a gentle palimpsest, layering contemporary design onto Milan’s faded grandeur. Founded by Valentina Ciuffi and Joseph Grima, the nomadic Alcova platform has always sought beauty in urban decay attracting a lot of attention. In 2025, Alcova expanded its reach to five locations, including the modernist Villa Borsani and 19th-century Villa Bagatti Valsecchi, plus two dramatic new sites – a disused SNIA textile factory and the misty Pasino Glasshouses – all linked by a “design path” through Varedo on Milan’s outskirts This fragmented geography invited a small pilgrimage, rewarding the curious with scenes of nature reclaiming architecture and design reclaiming imagination. As co-founder Joseph Grima put it, “We don’t see Alcova as an exhibition, but as a snapshot of what design is today. Our goal is to create the strongest possible resonance between the content and the container” 

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NICK ROSS x CONTEM 

Entering Villa Borsani, one immediately felt this resonance. The villa’s elegant 1940s interiors – once home to architect Osvaldo Borsani – set a tone of faded luxury and intimacy. In the foyer, the much-Instagrammed staircase came alive with a quiet intervention: a series of low, geometric massive timber collection of furniture from Nick Ross’s collaboration with Swedish brand CONTEM, each object poised on a step. Their minimal forms, reminiscent of Donald Judd’s purity yet humanized by hand-carved touches, glowed in the dusty light. The chairs were part of a collection shaped entirely from pruned linden tree branches harvested on Kungshatt Island near Stockholm. In keeping with Ross’s narrative approach to design, this project carried a poetic backstory – the lindens were planted 300 years ago by a Swedish king and had never been cut until now. Rather than simply showcasing sustainable wood, Ross wove a tale of time and stewardship: these venerable trees remain standing in Kungshatt, “otherwise intact” aside from their generous offerings. The resulting pieces, crafted from ancient boughs, seem to hold the soul of the forest within their grain. Placed against Villa Borsani’s marble and stucco, the collection struck a balance between refinement and rawness, their clean lines echoing modernist motifs while their material carried traces of North.

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HAUS of HU

Throughout the villa’s salons, new encounters awaited. In one airy room, Haus of Hu presented an assembly of objects that bridged Eastern and Western design sensibilities. Ellen Hu, the London-based founder of Haus of Hu, draws on her Chinese heritage to create pieces that transcend cliché or trend. Her work is subtle yet deeply resonant – a literal translation of 互戸 (“mutual doorway”) – suggesting design as a shared home for cultures.  At Alcova, Haus of Hu’s display might easily have been overlooked by those seeking flash, but to the attentive it offered a meditative moment. In a week often dominated by Italian and Scandinavian voices, Haus of Hu’s quiet corner was a refreshing voice. It subtly challenged the old perceptions of “Made in China,” showing craft and thoughtfulness rather than mass-production. Here was Chinese craft reimagined: refined, meaningful, and tender.

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AtMa

In a basement level defined by a dark yet spacious ambiance, rich Japanese craftsmanship took center stage. Tokyo-based studio AtMa unveiled its series, J39.5—chairs ingeniously reconstructed from reassembled parts of Borge Mogensen’s original J39. As the studio explains, “We came across a J39 with a missing leg and a cracked backrest at a vintage furniture warehouse. There were some damaged J39s that were difficult to repair because of cost, time, and effort. We decided to take them back, as we felt that we could create new value for them. With respect to Mogensen who redesigned the Shaker chair to create the J39, we redesigned it by reconfiguring the remaining parts instead of adding new materials and adding 0.5 design as a change of mindset.”

This narrative reflects not only a commitment to preserving history but also a bold reinterpretation of iconic design. Rather than restoring the old to its original form, AtMa transformed these damaged relics into seats that tell a layered story—modern in their sleek execution yet inextricably bound to the imperfect, rich legacy of their past lives.

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Completed Works

Known for its distinctive jewellery collections, London-based brand Completed Works—led by founder and artistic director Anna Jewsbury—has ventured into the realm of function with its debut furniture collection. The pieces, including a sculptural dressing table and a coffee table, blur the line between object and ornament, echoing the brand’s sculptural aesthetic.

The room felt like an extension of a stage set, its textured plaster walls perfectly complementing the metallic polystyrene objects on display. These statement pieces were created through an intricate process: polystyrene forms were coated in clay and finished with a silver nitrate mirror effect, giving them a surreal, reflective quality that dances between industrial and ethereal.

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Beyond the furniture, Completed Works also showcased experimental glasswork crafted in Kenya. Made from recycled glass, each piece embraced its natural imperfections—air bubbles, irregular curves, subtle texture shifts—making them truly one of a kind. These glassworks, subtle yet powerful, offered a beautiful counterbalance to the stark silver forms and deserve a spotlight of their own.

This collection marks a thoughtful expansion of Completed Works’ language of form and materiality—an exploration of beauty found in transformation, texture, and imperfection.

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Ryuichi Kozeki – Quiet Strength in Form

Tokyo-based designer Ryuichi Kozeki returned to Alcova for the 4th time this year with a quietly powerful installation that lingered in the memory long after leaving the room. While this wasn’t his first appearance in Thisispaper—his lighting work was featured in our highlights two years ago—this time Kozeki shifted focus, presenting a modest yet emotionally resonant set of furniture pieces.

Deconstructed minimalism formed the conceptual backbone of the project: an inquiry into how far one can dismantle and reassemble familiar elements, while remaining within the disciplined language of minimalism. Two chairs, a stool, and a series of lighting pieces formed the vocabulary for this exploration. The question posed was quiet but pointed: How far can we explore before they lose meaning—or gain it anew?

The forms appeared austere, almost architectural, yet held an unexpected lightness, both in weight and in presence. Set against the faded grandeur of the villa—its wardrobes, folding bed panels, and aged walls—the furniture became part of a subtle theatrical scene.

Kozeki draws from the notion of "deconstruction" not as a stylistic gesture, but as a philosophical tool. In a field often hemmed in by constraints of scale, function, and technique, Kozeki’s work spoke in quiet chapters—precise, composed, and full of restrained emotion. A beautiful continuation of his evolving dialogue between material, construction and space.

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Studio Musa

In one of the quiet corners of Villa Borsani near the entrance, Milan-based Studio Musa—a multidisciplinary design duo—offered a poetic glimpse into their creative world. Known for working across furniture, objects, and interiors, the studio presented Nova Bar, a refined reinterpretation of the classic bar cabinet. As the studio emphasized, their aim was not just to showcase individually crafted pieces but to create an immersive ambiance where every element harmonizes into a unified, evocative experience.

The  installation featured an open cabinet with minimal yet sculptural setup: a stately table accompanied by two stools, each adorned with deep velvet seat cushions. The composition exuded a quiet elegance— austere and charming, an interplay of formality and softness.

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Swollen – Yochiya

Our next stop led us to Villa Bagatti, where we encountered the uncompromising vision of Tokyo-based design duo Yochiya. Their latest collection, hauntingly beautiful and resonant with both ancient echoes and an otherworldly allure, emerged from tireless research, observation, and experimentation. It inhabits a delicate balance—a space where subtlety meets strength, inviting us to pause and consider the interplay between fragility and force.

Titled "Swollen," the series features sculptural vases and objects crafted through an unusual process: copper plates are welded together and then inflated using hydraulic pressure. The resulting forms are unpredictable—softly bulging, organic, almost breathing.

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What gives the pieces their soul is the patina—layers of oxidized texture created by carefully brushing a chemical solution onto the metal. The surfaces seem to hold time itself, revealing streaks and shadows like whispered memories.

Dramatic yet silent, and enduring, these objects are magnetic in their presence—slightly unsettling, wholly captivating. In the chiaroscuro of the room, they emerged like relics of a forgotten future.

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Marlot Baus

‍At Alcova 2025, the installation by Marlot Baus at Villa Bagatti Valsecchi stood out as a thoughtful exploration of material, space, and daily ritual. Presented in one of the villa’s open and naturally lit rooms, Daily Rhythms: Life Around the Table offered a composed environment that encouraged reflection.

Marlot Baus, a Barcelona-based, family-run studio, focuses on microcement furniture, particularly dining tables characterized by a hands-on, tailored approach. Curated by Claudia Longarte, the installation reinterpreted the dining setting as a space for habitual interaction, framed through a quiet, structured lens. “That concept becomes the foundation,” Longarte noted. “From there, I build a selection that feels coherent and considered.”

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Their collaboration reflected an ongoing creative relationship shaped by mutual understanding and a shared visual language. “From the beginning, we aimed to articulate a narrative,” she said. “For me, that story needed pieces that could translate its tone and context.”

The central feature—a long, dove-grey microcement table—acted as the focal point. Smooth to the touch, yet bearing subtle trowel traces, it highlighted the tactile quality of the material. Versions of these tables appeared throughout the exhibition, each one emphasizing different aspects of the studio’s material vocabulary. The installation also introduced a new chair design by Filippo Andrighetto, integrated into the composition.

Lighting by Kilzi contributed a diffused sculptural presence, while works by Berta-Blanca T. Ivanow, represented by Vasto Gallery, introduced organic contrast. Ivanow’s forms were placed alongside finely crafted objects by Cyril Maisonnave, whose minimalist cutlery served as a quiet counterpoint. “His work captured a moment of sharing that I had envisioned,” said Longarte. “There’s a kind of care in his pieces that reframes the ordinary.”

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The installation unfolded through a series of intentional compositions, each suggesting a discrete narrative. One notable corner featured the work of Krystel Liliana and Nawa Studio. “I’ve long admired Krystel’s approach,” Longarte added. “Her pieces introduce a kind of spatial pause.” Her wax sculptures were placed beside the Cabana table—microcement with steel legs—in a vignette recalling a contemporary vanity or private dressing table.

Structured around moments of domestic routine, the installation presented the Marlot Baus table not only as a functional object but also as a recurring point of connection. Through Longarte’s curation, the space achieved a balance of presence and restraint—introspective without being inaccessible.

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Marcin Rusak Studio - Ghost Orchid

Beyond the villa, Alcova’s journey continued under open skies. A short stroll through Varedo’s tree-lined lanes led to the Pasino Glasshouses – skeletal greenhouses standing amidst wild grasses. Here, nature’s reclamation was the dominant installation, and human design played a supporting role. In this transparent, dilapidated hall, Polish designer Marcin Rusak unveiled “Ghost Orchids,” a series of delicate black sculptures seemingly cultivated from the air.

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Inspired by the fact that his own grandfather once bred orchids, Rusak crafted biodegradable forms from 3D-printed corn-based PLA, allowing these pieces to one day decay like real flowers. Positioned among actual creeping vines and shattered glass panels, the plane of white organic shapes felt like the lingering spirit of the orchids that once grew here a generation ago. 

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Habitare Materials & Objects at EX-Sina Factory

Presented in the final room of the EX-Sina Factory, Habitare Materials & Objects offered a thoughtful and grounded counterpoint to the surrounding creative energy. Set within a semi-open space already marked by nature’s quiet takeover—greenery creeping through the structure, layers of patina forming on surfaces—the exhibition merged the tactile richness of a materials library with a curated selection of contemporary Finnish design objects.

The display highlighted ethical and ecologically sustainable design and material solutions from Finland, showcasing a diverse range of pieces, from furniture to lighting. This year, the presentation evolved further with the introduction of the Habitare Objects exhibition, enriching the offering with design products that complement the materials library.

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By bringing together both materials and objects under one roof, the exhibition created a meaningful platform for designers and companies to reach an international audience—fostering dialogue, collaboration, and a shared sense of sustainable vision. —