Design Week just wouldn’t be Design Week without the Interni project, the famous magazine now celebrating 70 years of publication. This year, united under the leitmotif of Cross Vision, the spectacular installations are spread between the Università Statale, the Brera Botanical Garden, Portrait Milano, Eataly Milano, Urban Up | Unipol and the new location of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.

The main theme is crossover thinking, Italian creativity confronted with international cultures, on a journey from industry to craftsmanship and vice versa, respecting the universal principles of sustainability and protection of the places in which we live.

• Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Festa del Perdono 7

In the Cortile d’Onore and the cloisters at the Università degli Studi, admire the labyrinthine path of the Chinese designer Wu Bin, the large totem El Paron - Wisteria Tower by Patricia Urquiola with Cimento, the golden landscape Mille Miroirs by the French designer Cyril Lancelin with Fidenza Village, the scenographic ceramic project by Mario Cucinella Architects Sparking Change, and a slice of ocean in SUB: Sustainable Underwater Balance by Piero Lissoni.

Extremely popular is the path suspended over a body of water by MAD Architects for Amazon in the Cortile della Farmacia.

• Orto botanico di Brera, via Brera 28 / via Fiori Oscuri 4

SunRICE - La ricetta della felicità -The recipe for happiness is the installation proposed by Eni at the Botanical Garden of Brera, designed by CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and the recently deceased designer Italo Rota who created one of his last works here. Delve into the experiential journey in which from the rice plant, through the ingredient and its innovative use in the kitchen with the contribution of the starred Chef Niko Romito, you can see the waste become raw material for a new and radically sustainable architecture.

• Portrait Milano, Corso Venezia 11

At Portrait Milano, in Milano’s ancient Seminary, now completely renovated as the new Piazza del Quadrilatero, Audi House of Progress presents Reflaction, by the BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group: a cross-shaped structure in the centre of the courtyard divides the space into four. Completely covered in mirrors, the walls become almost invisible, multiplying people and objects.

• Eataly Milano, Piazza XXV Aprile 10

At Eataly Milano the lightweight, floating installation Food, Design, Happiness by Giulio Cappellini is an ode to food as a source of joy and tranquillity, in its purest image as matter. 

• Urban Up | Unipol, Via De Castillia 23

With Il Respiro dell'Aria, Studio Azzurro completely redesigns the facade of the Urban Up | Unipol De Castillia 23 building in a large 4,000 sq mts vertical sky transforming it into a canvas inspired by the works of Magritte.

• Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Gemelli

New location for 2024: the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore hosts Sonosfera®, envisioned by inventor David Monacchi, for Pesaro, Italian Capital of Culture 2024. A sensorial theatre that reproduces the sound closest to reality ever created.

Is it really possible to think about cities in a new way? Mario Cucinella Architects responds to this in the historic Corriere della Sera courtyard in Via Solferino.

Inspired by Tecla, one of Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, a ‘new’ city made of wooden fruit crates is created. At the end of the week, this ecosystem will be deconstructed and the crates will return to their original function. As a result, the new city becomes a mine, an example of the concept of circularity in architecture, which is highly dependent on the creative process.

Following this, you can take part in the guided tours (by reservation only) and enter the heart of the stunning Art Nouveau Corriere della Sera building, designed by Luca Beltrami, accompanied by important names from the newspaper team.

In the heart of the central 5Vie district, a monumental 8-metre-high artwork surprises those who walk through the historic streets: The Tired Man by renowned architect, artist and designer Gaetano Pesce, is positioned directly in front of the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in Piazza San Pio XI, and aims to make us reflect on the perceived current lack of innovation and creative energy of the so-called ‘stronger sex’.

Inside the palazzo, circa thirty recent and historic works by the recently deceased artist will be on display from Friday 19th to Tuesday 23rd, chosen for their ability to engage us in a dialogue about the relationship between design and material.

5Vie, one of the oldest neighbourhoods in the city, offers many installations and events featuring collectable design and master craftsmanship. In these last few days of Milano Design Week we recommend a visit to Palazzo Litta in Corso Magenta, the headquarters of 5Vie Design Week.

The courtyard hosts the immersive and sensorial installation Straordinaria by we+: inspired by the lightness of clouds, creating continuously changing effects of colour and movement.

The Palazzo’s baroque interior is a stunning backdrop to the exhibition of installations, objects and furnishings such as the iconic Bocca® sofa by GUFRAM in the Sala degli Specchi, Under the willow tree by Sara Ricciardi, an installation formed by willow branches that create a melody as wind wafts through small metal bells when visitors pass by, or Salvage by Jay Sae Jung Oh, which invites us to reflect on the value of memory by creating unique works of art from reclaimed objects and wrapping them in thin layers of jute or raw leather.

This is also a unique opportunity also to visit this historic building, open to the public only on special occasions.

In the ancient Sala dei Pilastri of the Visconti’s Castello Sforzesco, debuting this year as a location for the Milano Design Week, Stark's Transitions installation invites visitors to a multi-sensorial exploration into the states in which matter manifests itself with an installation on water.

The portrait of water is composed of broken lines like the arid ground, tortuous flows like the current and intangible elements that meet along the path forming visual, auditory and material patterns in transformation. An unexpected trompe-l'oeil reflects matter and human beings as part of the same nature, all accompanied by a soundscape designed to make the multi-sensory experience even more immersive.

Lighting effects and screens that reflect and animate are a current favourite for snapshots and selfies.

A place of passage par excellence, Milano Central Station is transformed and becomes the stage for two unmissable installations for the Milano Design Week.

In front of the station hundreds of passers-by, tourists and onlookers stop to admire La nascita (The Birth), the latest work by the French street artist JR. A rocky landscape creates a trompe-l'oeil that blurs the boundaries of time and place, shaping a surreal architectural fantasy that draws a connection between the grandeur of the station today and its history.

You can walk through the various structures of the installation to see it from different angles, but if you want the perfect vision as conceived by the artist, look for the point marked on the ground in Piazza Duca d'Aosta for the shot that’ll grab the most attention on Instagram.

Then enter the station, where Moncler transforms this vast space into a huge art gallery open to the public thanks to the immersive exhibition entitled An Invitation to Dream: curated by Jefferson Hack, filmed and photographed by Jack Davison, it invites some extraordinary minds who shape contemporary culture and encourage us to dream just like them. 

The Tortona area has always been one of the ‘places to be’ during Milano Design Week: we recommend some specific installations not to be missed, but the entire neighbourhood featuring Tortona Rocks, Tortona Design Week, SuperDesign Show and We Will Design deserves to be a destination for your weekend.

Drop by Base Milano, home of We Will Design, where FLOWAIR welcomes you in the courtyard, a large site-specific installation that combines organic elements with amorphous textures, designed by Ingo Maurer's team. Made up of elements up to 10 metres high that slowly inflate and contract, FLOWAIR moves in the wind offering a show of lights and colours both by day and night.

Then enter the building where, amongst the many projects, you will find TALAMO, a performative sculpture by the London-based Italian architect duo Lemonot: an immense, and at the same time lightweight, bed in a restless and dynamic suspension between floor and ceiling which comes to life by involving the public and which somehow becomes a room without delimiting a volume.

For the most awesome, and definitely most colourful, shot of the week, you can't miss Opificio 31: the facade of the Officina 3 building has become a large canvas for Hong Chul Wonderland. An explosion of colours, the result of the collaboration between Noroo Group, the Korean colour industry, and the Spanish street artist Okuda San Miguel, transformed the building with a patchwork of joyful textures, which also continues inside.

Still looking for another great image? Check out the exhibition Preciosa Lighting – Crystal Beat II inside Opificio 31: dozens of luminous cubes hanging from the ceiling guarantee an unmissable atmosphere.

A location outside the usual design circuits, but which offers surprises: the former Casa dell'Acqua (public baths) in via Giacosa, an aqueduct built in the 1920s within Parco Trotter, is reopened on the occasion of the Milano Design Week 2024.

Partially re-adapted with an immersive and sensorial installation which, through the theme of water, addresses body care in a collective dimension and enhances the different spaces of the historic edifice.

This reopening is part of the project with which the Municipality of Milano invited designers to envision projects or installations within some abandoned municipal buildings.

Let yourself be surprised by the installations and take part in the scheduled talks.

One of the city’s trendiest and most up-and-coming locations, Zona Sarpi, will be making its Milano Design Week debut this year and it shouldn’t be missed.

This dynamic neighbourhood, known as Milano’s Chinatown, will become a platform to display its culture of collaboration, integration and the enhancement of its multicultural identity.

As you enter through the China Town Portal, you’ll be greeted by a temporary installation created by DONTSTOP Architecture, in collaboration with Tommaso Lanciani and the street artist Pao. An original fusion of Milanese and Chinese styles, merged together by drawings made by local children, will provide a feast for your senses.

Carry on down the ever-bustling via Paolo Sarpi, newly revitalised with site-specific projects and adorned with designs, before stopping off at the Chinese Cultural Center and the ADI Design Museum. Here, East meets West in a wealth of exhibitions, events, meeting groups and installations.

To end the evening in style, pay a visit to the Fabbrica del Vapore where, alongside talks and exhibitions, you’ll come across a music festival featuring some of the international electronic music scene’s most exciting artists.

There’s no denying that Isola, rubbing shoulders with Chinatown, is another of Milano’s trendiest neighbourhoods. A medley of art galleries, street art, artisan workshops and many inviting bars embellish its streets. Three of the area’s venues will open their doors to participate in this year’s Design Week: Lampo Milano, WAO PL7 and Stecca 3.0.

If you’re short on time, make sure to stop by Lampo Milano where you’ll be awed by the historic railyard Scalo Farini’s recent mega redevelopment into an impressive vibrant creative & cultural space. 

Pause to admire the Isola Design Gallery, in which collectible design items, created by independent artists, are displayed so as to play with colours, lights and textures, in contrast with the gallery’s brutalist architecture. Have you ever seen water being extracted from fog? We didn’t think so. This is one of the many environmentally-friendly attractions and projects that can be found at Enhance - Design for social impact, the next stop on your list. Here you’ll find inventions designed with a socially positive impact in mind.

The final stop must surely be Is One Life Enough?, dedicated to sustainable materials and circular economy, the set-up of the exhibition itself is almost zero impact, using recycled egg cartons as bases for pedestals.

Breaking with tradition, the location of Design Variations by MoscaPartners’ Milano Design Week space won’t be held in one of the city’s many historical buildings. Instead, it will take over a fascinating new space: a beautifully understated 1940’s former garage overlooking the Darsena at via Gorizia 14.

Park Associati have transformed the garage’s interior with an innovative modular hemp-cement brick design, emphasising the importance of using recoverable, reusable and bio-based materials.

At the entrance, you’ll be greeted by a site-specific work by the talented French-Italian artist Nathalie Du Pasquier, composed of huge decorative panels with geometric graphics and vivid chromatic contrasts.

The 3,000 sq mt exhibition follows the theme of Touching Materials in which furniture, objects, accessories, industrial pieces and collectible works are exhibited to provide a 360° experience in the world of design.

The Salone del Mobile.Milano is the holy grail of the furniture and design sector, taking place at the Fiera Milano Rho until Sunday April 21st. The key theme is sorprendenza: the sense of wonder and amazement generated by an ecosystem of innovation that functions, arouses curiosity and astonishment for new design concepts and ideas.

Over 1,900 exhibitors, including 600 young talents under 35, as well as 22 design schools are taking part. 

Make the most of the Salone’s opening to the public on Saturday April 20th and Sunday 21st to wander in awe through the stands and visit the installations in pavilions 5 -7. Speaking of wonder and amazement, the special guest is none other than the great film director David Lynch. He will be presenting Interiors by David Lynch. A thinking room. The visionary director is also a passionate furniture carpenter and, in his installations, he gives birth to environments that foster reflection, navigating the visitor between dreamlike and conscious states, just like in his films.